


Could You Be Mine

by DaniJayNel



Series: 100 YumiKuri Stories [71]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Genderbend, M/M, Male!Annie - Freeform, Male!Mikasa - Freeform, Male!Ymir - Freeform, Yaoi, c - Freeform, male!Krista - Freeform, male!Sasha - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:04:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4221087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniJayNel/pseuds/DaniJayNel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A timid boy, Kristopher Reiss, begins at a new school to escape his troubles. It doesn't take long for new trouble to start. Only this time, there's an intimidating yet strikingly handsome brunette quick to jump to his rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After all this time, I have finally managed it finish this short, interesting story. It was taken down not long after posting, because I was under tremendous stress due to too many ongoing stories. I vowed to not post this story again until it was finished. So, for those new to this story, it’s a genderbend. Which means that Ymir and Krista—as well as Sasha, Annie and Mikasa, are all male. YumiKuri turns into YumiKris. Unhappy with it? Shame. I hope that my yaoi readers will enjoy this, or just my ordinary readers that have a spice for something new. I really enjoyed this different take on YumiKuri, and I’d definitely like to explore this theme again. So with my author-y monologue over, do enjoy!

Ymir sat slumped in his chair, arms crossed on the surface of the desk and his chin rested atop them. He stared listlessly outside of the window since he sat right by it at the very back. In front of the class his register teacher, a young man by the name of Marco that had only been here since Ymir had started highschool, went through the week’s schedule and took attendance of the class. Ymir only lifted his head when his name was called and then he returned to staring out at the rustling tree branches.

He was so bored. School was a necessity but a pain. He would much rather be at home doing something more interesting, like watching anime or playing games. He’d just gotten a new game last weekend, too, but he was forced to put that on hold because of school. Ymir wished his mother wasn’t so overbearing, but she at least cared enough to invest herself in what her son did with his days.

“I hope you all remember that tomorrow we will be doing a practical for L.O. Remember to wear suitable clothes!” Marco reminded the class of their physical practical and smiled softly at the groans of distaste.

L.O, short for Life Orientation, was a side subject only given on Tuesdays and Thursdays before official classes began. The subject itself obviously taught about different aspects of life – studying, how to live in society, being a better person, learning how to communicate and many other important topics. They also had a physical part where they had to perform whatever exercises, sport or dance was required and get marked on that. Sometimes they would even receive marks simply for how fit they were, which Ymir thought was hilarious for those that weren’t so in shape. Ymir didn’t understand why the school offered this ninth subject without actually giving it a solid period. No one took it serious because of that fact. L.O was thought of as a period to do other subjects’ work and other school business. At least the work was easy enough to get full marks for everything.

“Sir, what if it rains tomorrow?” one of the students in the class asked.

Marco glanced outside of the window and frowned. There were indeed clouds littered across the sky. It was possible that they were simply blowing over, but they looked pretty heavy. “We’ll have to either do the practical in class or go to the L.O hall. If the weather gets incredibly bad then I’m sure it will be rescheduled to Thursday or next week.”

Some students muttered hopefully amongst themselves that it would pour like hell and others seemed uninterested. Ymir was among the latter. He didn’t care if they did it or not.

“Alright class, one more thing…” Marco went over to the door and peeked outside. A smile broke out onto his face and then he returned to standing in front of his desk. “We have a new student starting from today. Kris?”

Ymir didn’t feel bothered enough to look as whomever Kris was walked nervously into the classroom. He just continued to stare outside of the window and hope the bell would ring soon.

“Kris just transferred in, and though it’s the middle of the year I hope you will all become great friends with him.” Marco smiled kindly at Kris and the teen nervously stepped up next to him. “Would you like to introduce yourself?”

Kris swallowed softly but nodded in determination. “H-hi, I’m Kristopher Reiss. I h-hope we can all get along.”

Some of the guys in the class muttered amongst themselves and Ymir finally lifted his head. The voice was soft and timid and Ymir wasn’t surprised at Kris’ appearance. Just like his voice, the boy himself was small and timid. He was quite short with neatly trimmed blonde hair, soft blue eyes and a thin frame. Marco towered over him and some of the meat-heads in the class snickered. Ymir’s eyes narrowed when he heard them, because Kris had too and his eyes immediately fell to the floor when he did.

“We are honoured to have a member of the Reiss family in our class. If you ever have any problems or need to talk, I’m here during breaks and after school.” Marco placed a hand on the blonde boy’s shoulder and then whispered so that only he could hear, “If anyone gives you any trouble let me know immediately, alright?”

Kris smiled brightly up at his teacher and nodded. “Thank you Mr Bodt.”

“Now, any open seats?” Marco released the teen’s shoulder and searched the classroom for an empty seat. By some miracle there was one and Marco pointed at it. “Kris, you can sit there next to Berik. Berik, could you show Kris around the school during break?”

Berik, a deeply tanned boy with black hair spiked up stylishly eyed Kris through narrowed eyes before he smirked and nodded. “Sure, teach’. I’ll give him the royal tour.”

Ymir slumped forward onto his desk and released a breath from his nose. _Poor kid, Mr M doesn’t know what an asshole Berik is. Good luck to you._

Kris felt a terrified chill run down his spine at the way Berik watched him approach the empty desk, but he shrugged it off and instead offered a friendly smile. “Hi,” he said and extended his hand. Berik reluctantly extended his own and enclosed it around Kris’ much smaller one. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Berik hummed under his breath. “Yeah, sure.” After their handshake Berik wiped his hand off on his pants, though Kris didn’t notice. 

“Where you from, Kristopher?” Sitting directly behind them was a boy with brown hair and striking green eyes. Kris startled and turned around in his seat to see the owner of the voice. “I’m Eren by the way.” The boy grinned brightly, which made Kris blush.

“I came from Sina,” Kris responded timidly.

Eren laughed and playfully slapped Kris on the shoulder. “You don’t look like a prissy asshole though!” Eren flicked his eyes over to Berik, frowned and then looked back at Kris. “It’s nice to meet you, Kristopher.”

Kris blushed again and waved his hands. “No, no, you can call me Kris. Only my parents call me Kristopher.”

Eren rubbed the back of his neck and muttered apologies, though he grinned brightly. His smile faltered again when he saw Berik glance over his shoulder. “Look, watch out for that guy. He’s bad news.” Eren gestured towards the black haired boy and whispered.

Kris glanced warily at him and nodded. “Okay, thanks.”

Kris and Eren continued to chat about many different things. There wasn’t much time left before the first class would start so most students were simply relaxing until it did. Ymir, however, found himself glancing over at the new boy. He noticed how little by little Kris’ anxiety fell away and he opened up. All it took was Eren’s eagerness to know more about him and that idiot’s infectious smile. Ymir had never liked Eren. He was impulsive, too emotional and never knew when to shut his big mouth.

Ymir growled softly and forced his eyes away. He was curious. _Where does Kris come from? Didn’t he tell Eren he comes from Sina? Why did he even move here if he lived in the richest city in our country?_

Normally Ymir wouldn’t care at all, but he was also a nosey bastard when he wanted to be. Besides, he was still bored and this new boy could provide some entertainment for him. He saw the way Berik grinned over to his buddies, Reiner and Berthold. Though Berthold seemed reluctant to partake in their amusement, Reiner was all for it. Berthold did send a displeased frown over to Kris though, and when the boy noticed his openness quickly dissipated and he ended the conversation with Eren. The brown haired boy was confused but shrugged and turned to talk to his brother, Mikasa.

Kris turned back to the front and stared down at his desk. His shoulders folded forward and he looked like he wanted to climb into himself. It made Ymir want to stand up, march over to him and physically straighten his posture. Did he have to make his fear that obvious?

Ymir couldn’t resist staring again, and he ended up watching the back of Kris’ blonde head until the bell finally rang. Not once did Kris look back and notice him.

XxX

True to his word Berik found Kris at the start of break and started showing him around the place. He hurriedly rattled off explanations of which teacher had what class, what other buildings they had and what areas were off limits. Kris had been incredibly nervous but he discovered that Berik wasn’t all that bad. Sure, the guy could be a bit more cheerful but he didn’t seem as threatening as he had earlier. This helped Kris relax a lot and ask questions as they walked.

“Why aren’t we allowed by the empty classroom?” Kris asked after they had passed by it and Berik had warned him not to go there.

“Students often go there to smoke so it’s strictly off limits.” Berik suddenly clapped Kris on the shoulder. “But I’m sure you won’t be breaking rules anytime, right?” Kris nodded. “You seem like the obedient type,” Berik said. “Kind of boring, if you ask me.”

Kris wasn’t sure if he was supposed to take offense or not, but he decided not to.

“Did you have any friends back in Sina?”

At this Kris’ eyes shifted nervously to the floor. Berik noticed and he grinned. “No, not really.”

“How come? Did no one like you?”

“No… they…”

“Come on, tell me. You don’t seem like a bad guy to me.” They passed by the office and Berik quickly explained the inside of the building and then he nudged Kris and grinned. “So?”

“I don’t know.” Kris fell silent after. He did know. He knew very well why he had never been able to make any friends, but he wasn’t going to tell that to a complete stranger. The way Berik was pushing him to answer was starting to alarm him.

They made a turn and started heading back the way they came, and Kris was too lost in his anxiety to really notice it until Berik tugged him to a stop and he discovered that they had walked around the back of the empty classroom, exactly where they weren’t supposed to be.

“Berik? Why are we here?” Kris swallowed loudly and glanced behind him, but Berik quickly clamped a hand over his upper arm.

“I know why no one liked you,” Berik said with a wide, nasty grin. “Because you’re a girly-boy.” He laughed loudly when Kris’ eyes widened and he started to struggle.

“Please let me go.”

“Let you go? Now why would I do that?” Berik laughed some more and then he roughly shoved Kris into the classroom wall. Kris flinched when his skull collided with the hard brick wall but he quickly recovered and turned, pressing his back to the wall.

Figures emerged from the corner of the class and Kris felt his heart leap into his throat. Berik was grinning at the newcomers and one of them was grinning back.

The one mirroring Berik’s glee was blonde too though his hair was much shorter. He was also really stocky and muscled. His face looked hard and stony and when he glanced at Kris with disgust the smaller boy internally flinched. Behind the blonde was a much, much taller brunette. He looked concerned and had a furrow between his brows, but he obviously wasn’t going to voice his disagreement if he had any. The expression, though, gave Kris hope that maybe they wouldn’t do anything drastic.

“I hate guys like you,” Berik announced loudly. He put an arm around the stocky blonde’s broad shoulders and shared a glance with him. “And Reiner here does too.”

Kris looked very much like a frightened puppy. He was totally cornered by the three other guys and there was no way he could escape if he tried to evade them and flee. What were they even planning to do? Kris grabbed onto the fabric of his pants and tightened his fists. Why did people always have to be nasty for no reason? All he wanted was to make friends and smile with everyone.

“Berthold, what do you think?” Berik directed the question at the tall brunette.

“I, uh… agree.” Berthold had a few trickles of sweat sliding down his face from anxiety. He was worried that a teacher would discover them and they would be caught.

“I’m not…” Kris began softly. “I’m not a girly-by!” He had tears in his eyes though, and fear and anger coiled in his chest at how helpless he felt. If only he had the confidence to stand up to them, but he didn’t and he was already trembling from what he had managed to barely say.

“Oh? He can actually speak for himself?” Berik laughed nastily. “Pigs like you shouldn’t talk down to real men.” Suddenly Berik grabbed Kris by his hair and lifted him up until he was standing on the tips of his toes.

Kris gasped in pain and quickly reached up to grab Berik’s wrist with his hands. It felt like his hair was about to rip out just from that.

“You’re letting him touch you,” Reiner commented with narrowed eyes.

“You’re right.” Berik let go and Kris fell onto his hands and knees. He could only stare wide eyed down at the soil underneath his palms. He knew now that these guys meant to physically harm him.

Kris hated the build-up to the beating. He wished it would just be over.

Reiner was the first to act. He stepped forward and shoved Kris into the ground with a shoe pressed to his shoulder. He then tipped Kris over and stepped on his chest. The wind left Kris’ lungs and he gasped.

Berik laughed like a mad man and pointed while Reiner kicked and tossed Kris against the ground. The small boy could not defend himself at all and simply curled into a ball and cried. This wasn’t the first time this was happening, and memories of past experience doubled the terror of his situation.

Was there anyone at this school that he could ever trust?

“Yo, assholes. When did you start beating up on wimps?”

The voice was unfamiliar, deep and husky. It sounded unconcerned and frightened Kris that another had joined the abuse, but it had at least brought pause to Reiner’s fist. He had just pulled Kris up by the front of his shirt and prepared to punch him right in the jaw. Kris flinched and blinked the tears from his eyes. He managed to look around Reiner’s body to see who the other guy was and felt the breath leave him for an entirely different reason than it had until now.

It was a tall brunette, tanned and with freckles all along his cheeks and nose. His eyes were a stunning shade of dark brown and the look in them sent pleasant shivers through Kris’ body. That gaze, it was so frighteningly fierce. Even if he did sound uninterested, the very look in his eyes told Kris that he was very angry.

“What do you want, fuckface?”

The brunette lifted an eyebrow and his eyes flicked over to Kris. Their eyes met and the blonde boy swallowed lightly. As quickly as he had looked over the freckled boy looked back to the shorter one in front of him. Kris noted that he was only shorter than Berthold, and he even towered over Reiner.

“I want you to stop looking pathetic. Picking on the new kid, seriously?”

Berik started laughing. “Is the big, bad Ymir sticking up for him? Oh! I see! You’re a girly-boy too, aren’t you?” He grinned in such a way that his expression turned ugly.

Ymir stared at Berik for a long period of time. He seemed to be focusing intently on something, but slowly his eyebrow began to twitch and his face started to redden. Kris began to panic that Ymir was too upset to respond, but then he surprised everyone by bursting out into raucous laughter. He actually fell over onto the floor and clutched his sides as spasms of laughter washed over him.

Strangely, seeing the freckled boy laughing like that eased the panic in Kris’ chest and he smiled despite himself.

“What are you smiling at, freak?” Reiner shoved him roughly against the wall and he grunted softly at the pain.

Eventually Ymir recovered and stood. He dusted himself off and sighed in satisfaction. “Holy shit, Berik,” Ymir put a hand on the now furious boy’s shoulder and smirked widely. “You still say the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.”

Berik’s eyebrow twitched. “Shut the fuck up, girly-boy.”

“What the hell is a girly-boy? If you’re implying that I have a vagina and tits then I'm pretty sure that I don’t.” His amused smirk widened. “Or is it that you’re just looking for like-minded people, hm?”

Berthold was now in full sweat-mode. He knew what Ymir being here meant, and he knew that Reiner and Berik wouldn’t care even though they both hadn’t forgotten the last time they had encountered the brunette. He decided to leave, and although he felt uncomfortable for escaping like a coward, he did not want to witness what would surely happen to his friends.

Only Kris noticed him leave. Berik was too busy glaring murder at Ymir and Reiner was doing the same.

“What the fuck did you say, freckled face?”

“I still don’t get how pointing my freckles out is an insult.” Ymir’s eyebrows came together but he still grinned. “Even a jerkwad like you should be able to come up with something witty, or maybe I overestimated you?” Ymir still had his large hand tightly clasped around Berik’s shoulder. The black haired boy couldn’t have broken free even if he had tried, but he did not back down or show any of his fear.

“Fuck off.”

“No thanks.” Ymir glanced over at Kris again and frowned. “Leave the kid alone.”

“It’s none of your damn business! The girly-boy can’t even stick up for himself, he deserves to get his balls kicked!”

“His are probably bigger than yours.” Ymir shoved Berik with ease and the boy stumbled back with a grunt of surprise.

“What the fuck did you say?” This time it was Reiner that responded. He dropped Kris completely and stepped menacingly towards Ymir. By now Ymir’s expression had drained of emotion. His eyelids fell halfway and he lazing lifted his hand to scratch behind his ear.

“Yo, kid. Piss off.” Ymir spoke to Kris who was sitting frozen on the floor. When the blonde boy didn’t respond he sighed deeply. “I’m telling you to run, dumbass. Or do you want me to kick your ass myself?”

“Who do you think you are to let him leave? We aren’t done with him!” Reiner puffed himself up as much as he could. He was twice Ymir’s size in muscle mass, but it wasn’t always the packs of meat that won battles. Ymir had a dangerous glint in his eyes. When Reiner stepped forward and yelled savagely as he threw a punch, Ymir caught his wrist, twisted it painfully and stepped behind him to twist his arm in the same fashion, and then he swept the blonde’s feet out from beneath him and Reiner fell straight onto his face.

It happened so fast that if Kris had blinked he would have missed it.

“Can you understand English?” Ymir asked. He approached Kris with a disapproving frown and pulled the boy onto his feet. “Come on, you’re bleeding.” His eyes didn’t lose any of their fierceness and his grip was hot and firm around Kris’ wrist. The smaller boy blushed brightly at the contact and followed behind Ymir. Well, he didn’t have much of a choice since the brunette was forcibly tugging him along.

“Wait! We aren’t done yet!” Berik finally built the courage to remind Ymir of his presence after watching his friend experience one of Ymir’s painful moves. Reiner was out cold. “Mind your own fucking business.”

Ymir released Kris and swung one of his long legs in an upwards arc. The side of his foot connected with Berik’s jaw and blood sprayed out of his mouth due to his teeth slicing into his tongue. Berik flew backwards against the wall and knocked his head hard enough to immediately fall unconscious. Ymir didn’t spare a glance behind him and simply started pulling Kris with him again.

Kris stared after them, in complete wonder at how Ymir had managed to completely knock them both out with only one move each. He also wondered why the attractive brunette had bothered to save him at all.

They suddenly halted and Kris’ heart nearly stopped when Ymir grabbed the front of his shirt, lifted him and shoved him into the wall.

“I seriously want to kick your ass right now. What the hell was that?”

Kris had his eyes wide with shock and fear. He wanted to respond, to ask what Ymir meant, but his lips wouldn’t move.

Ymir slowly let Kris down onto his feet but he did not let go of his shirt or remove his face from Kris’ personal space. They were so close that if he had wanted to and had been given the time, Kris could have counted each freckle on Ymir’s face.

“Why did you just curl up and cry? People pick on you because you show them how weak you are.”

Sadness filled Kris’ eyes and he looked away. “I know,” he said softly. “I just can’t help it.”

Ymir studied his sombre face for a few minutes. He noted with certainty that Kris was too goddamn cute for his own good. That had been the only reason he had decided to save him. That and the fact that he wanted to ask the boy questions until his curiosity was sated. The brunette sighed and stepped away from the trembling blonde. He felt slightly bad for hurting Kris further after he had just experienced hell.

“Stop looking like you’re about to burst into tears,” Ymir said. Kris glanced up at him. “You really are bleeding. I’ll take you to the nurse.” Ymir pointed at the area above his eyebrow and Kris took the hint. He experimentally felt around and flinched at the sting of pain. There was also blood on his fingers when he lowered them to expect them.

“Okay,” he said softly.

Ymir grunted in satisfaction and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He walked off towards the office and Kris followed closely behind.

They said nothing more as they walked but Kris couldn’t help but continuously stare up at Ymir’s handsome face. Each time he did his heart would flutter, and Kris wondered again why this person had decided to help him.

XxX

After taking Kris to the nurse Ymir had immediately left him. Though Kris had nervously protested and asked that he stay, Ymir refused and left for class since the bell had already rung. He thought about the incident throughout the entirety of his next classes and was surprised to see Kris stride through the door of his last class. So they had biology together.

Kris had seemed ecstatic that he had Ymir in one of his classes besides their register class. He had hesitantly approached the brunette – who was staring fiercely at him – and nervously asked to take the seat beside him.

“Can I sit here?”

Ymir glanced down at the chair and then back up at Kris’ face. “What if I catch you girly-boy disease?” He said it so seriously that Kris nodded sadly and turned around to find another seat. Ymir sighed and rolled his eyes, and he quickly grabbed Kris from behind and shoved him into the seat. “Ever heard of a joke before?”

Kris looked absolutely bewildered but he soon beamed brightly with a beautiful smile. “I’m sorry, I thought you were serious.”

Ymir could just sense the kindness from the smaller boy, and he assumed that Kris was the kind of guy that others easily walked over. He narrowed his eyes and knew instantly that this trait would annoy the shit out of him.

“Tch, whatever.” Ymir folded his arms on the desk and rested his head down on them. He closed his eyes and fell asleep within seconds.

Kris took the opportunity to properly study his face this time, since his eyes weren’t open. Ymir was really intimidating to lock gazes with.

He really was very attractive. Sharp, straight angles defined his face. His skin looked dark and smooth and was littered with brown freckles. The freckles probably gave him a softer appearance, because Kris couldn’t help but blush when he thought that they looked really cute.

Ymir’s hair was longer than expected. It went just past the bottom of his neck and could probably be tied up. Kris imagined what he would look like with his hair in a ponytail and his blush only intensified.

Ymir was tall and lean, and probably worked out. Though it was difficult to see how fit he was because of the clothes – which consisted of grey pants, a long sleeved white button-up school shirt, a long sleeved black jersey and a black tie. His hair had fallen over his eyes when he shifted and his shoulders gently lifted as he breathed.

Kris felt an urge to reach out and touch him, but he dared not to act on it. He didn’t want Ymir to think he was even more of a weirdo, and the possibility of the brunette hating him even though he showed no signs of even liking him was a painful thought.

They did not know each other and Ymir was still a stranger, but Kris felt impossibly safe by his side. Ymir had saved him. Maybe a bit too into it, but he had showed up anyway. Hopefully the other guys wouldn’t bother him again, and if they did hopefully Ymir would stop them again. The thought of Ymir jumping to his rescue made Kris smile and cover his mouth to hide it.

Kris wanted Ymir to be his knight in shining armour.

Eventually their teacher, a handsome man with long hair tied up stylishly and a pair of glasses perched on his nose, appeared and quieted the class down. He introduced himself to Kris as Hanji Zoe, and said that the blonde could simply call him Mr Zoe if he wanted to. Kris immediately liked the teacher, and then even more so after what he did when he noticed a slumbering Ymir.

Hanji had paused mid-sentence and then crept silently towards their desk. Kris was nervous, because he didn’t know what to expect, but then he was pleasantly surprised when the teacher simply pulled a pillow out from seemingly nowhere and dropped Ymir’s head onto it. Ymir slumped to the side but was so out of it that he didn’t notice the sudden softness against his face. Hanji had then skipped back to the front of the class, scribbled a few activities from their textbook that they had to do on the board and left them in silence to complete their work.

Instead of breaking out into boisterous chatter like most classes did when the teachers gave a period for textbook work, everyone remained quiet and actually worked. Some of the guys chatted softly, but it wasn’t louder than a whisper.

Were they all doing this because Ymir was asleep?

“Weird, isn’t it?” a boy with light brown hair and mischievous eyes sitting in front of them turned in his seat and commented. He grinned at the surprised look on Kris’ face and held his hand out. “I’m Sasha.” He enthusiastically shook hands with Kris and then leaned forward until their noses were touching. Kris stiffened but didn’t move away. He simply waited for Sasha to do whatever it was he wanted to do.

“You have really pretty eyes,” Sasha commented. He finally sat back in his seat and released Kris’ hand. The blonde blushed and rubbed at his hand where Sasha had held onto him.

“Thanks. People don’t notice often.”

Sasha gasped dramatically and then covered his mouth in horror. He glanced over at Ymir, who had now started to snore rather loudly, and then sighed in relief. “Wow, what a relief. If I wake him he’ll steal my lunch again.” The thought put tears in Sasha’s eyes.

“Uh, Sasha?”

Sasha snapped out of it and laughed. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re Kris, right? I heard Eren telling Armin about you. Oh, Armin is Eren’s best friend. He said that you’re a really nice guy and he’s right!” Sasha grinned naughtily and leaned forward to whisper. “He never mentioned how cute you are though.”

Kris covered his face with his hands to hide the burning across his cheeks. “Thank you.”

“How do you know Ymir?”

Kris uncovered his face and glanced over at the person in question. He couldn’t help but choke on laughter when he saw that Ymir had practically rolled over and now he had his mouth wide open as he snored, drool slowly tricking out of the corner of his mouth.

“He saved me when I was being roughed up by some guys.”

Sasha blinked. “WHAT?” He then covered his mouth again and peeked over at Ymir. He hadn’t woken this time either. Sasha lowered his voice when he spoke again. “Who was mean enough to hurt you?”

Kris shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over now and hopefully Ymir taught them a lesson.”

Sasha leaned over and experimentally poked Ymir’s cheek. He twitched slightly but otherwise hardly reacted. “I’m surprised Ymir saved you, though. He isn’t a bad guy but he can be a jerk most of the time.”

Kris smiled. “I can see him being a jerk. I don’t know why he saved me, but I’m grateful.” His smile grew. “Maybe moving here won’t be so bad after all, as long as I meet people like you and Ymir.”

Sasha’s eyes widened at the compliment and then they teared up. He shot forward and pulled Kris into a tight hug. “I’m so happy that you like me! Will you give me food?”

Kris furrowed his brows but laughed and nodded. “Sure, if you want.”

Sasha started to cry in happiness and Kris tried his best to calm him down. Unfortunately the noise had finally woken Ymir and he wasn’t pleased at all.

“Can you both be idiots somewhere else?” Ymir snarled.

Kris and Sasha both stared at him with wide eyes. They remained silent for a while and then broke into a fit of giggles. Ymir’s irritation grew and he glared as fiercely as he could.

“What the hell is so funny?”

Sasha pointed but then he nearly fell off of his chair and he laughed even harder. Kris recovered before him, because he felt bad for laughing at Ymir who was obviously grumpy and confused.

“I’m sorry for laughing,” Kris said. He scooted closer and reached out to smooth down Ymir’s hair that had been sticking up all over the place. Ymir froze but didn’t stop him, not even when Kris finished with his hair and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.

“You drool in your sleep, you know.” Kris forgot to be nervous and confidently cleaned the mess from Ymir’s mouth and chin. The brunette had a slight blush on his face and looked away when Kris was finished. “There, now you look normal again.”

“I didn’t ask you to baby me,” Ymir said snarkily. He wouldn’t meet Kris’ eyes and missed the nervous smile that was sent his way.

“I know, but I just thought that I could do something for you after you helped me.”

Ymir finally met Kris’ blue gaze and he was immediately uncomfortable. “Normal people don’t clean other people’s faces.” Instead of being hurt at the comment Kris smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

“Like everyone says, I’m weird.”

Ymir rolled his eyes but quickly looked away in embarrassment. It wasn’t just the fact that Kris had just cleaned him up, it was also the fact that he had actually let him. Was this really worth it just to get some gossip?

“Kristopher,” Ymir spoke up. Kris had been listening to Sasha animatedly retell a food tale when Ymir spoke, so he and Sasha were both surprised. Sasha quickly quieted and Kris gave his full attention to the brunette. “You owe me, right?”

Kris furrowed his brows. “I do, yes.”

Ymir grinned. He said nothing more which made Kris worried. Why did he suddenly look so pleased? What was with that seedy smile on his face?

And why did he suddenly look so accomplished?

XxX

Class ended soon, much to Ymir’s relief. He was packed and out of the class before anyone else, which was mostly a surprise to everyone. Sure, he wanted to get home as soon as possible so that he could take a long nap and then do something interesting afterwards, but he never moved all that fast unless he was forced to.

Kris had to jog to keep up with his long strides and when he finally did he leaped out and grabbed onto the back of Ymir’s shirt to tug him to a stop.

“Wait!”

“What do you want?”

Kris had to take a moment to catch his breath and still held onto Ymir’s shirt. When he did manage to calm his breathing he met Ymir’s questioning gaze with a determined one of his own.

“I don’t mean to sound weird,” he started, “but I’ve been meaning to ask you… why did you save me this morning?”

Ymir’s eyebrow lifted and then he narrowed his eyes. He leaned down until they were eyelevel and then flicked Kris in the centre of his forehead.

“I sure as hell didn’t do it for you.” That was kind of a lie. Ymir hated seeing assholes like Berik and Reiner beat on other people who were weaker than them. He also hated getting himself mixed up in other people’s issues, but when he had seen Kris curled up on the ground he figured that he could get something out of this and save the cute kid all in one swoop.

“What do you mean?” Kris pouted unhappily while he rubbed at the red spot on his forehead. “And what did you flick me for?”

Ymir grinned. “I saved your ass so that you would owe me, and now you do.”

“You want me to pay my debt to you?”

Ymir straightened and smirked. “You aren’t as dumb as I thought you were, kid.”

“Don’t call me kid! We’re in the same class.”

“But you’re younger than me, aren’t you?” Kris looked away and blushed. Ymir laughed. “You’re cute when you blush. I should mess with you often if I get to see it.” He playfully rustled Kris’ previously neat hair and then turned around to start walking again.

Kris felt too embarrassed to run to him and say the rest of what he needed to say, so he simply stood there and watched Ymir’s broad shoulders as the tall brunette hurried out of the school grounds. He watched until Ymir completely disappeared into the distance, and then he ran a few fingers over his still burning cheeks and sighed in content.

Maybe school wouldn’t be so bad if he got to meet someone like Ymir. Suddenly Kris felt the gloom over his predicament fade, and all that he could see before him was a road filled with sunshine. He smiled shyly to himself and went outside of the school gates to look for his ride.

When he found his aunt and climbed into the car she scolded him for leaving her waiting, but she noticed the happy smile on his face and decided not to give him a hard time. On the way home she asked how his day had been and all Kris could talk about was a bad tempered brunette with freckles called Ymir.


	2. Chapter 2

The following day was a Tuesday, and the rain gods had answered a number of students’ prayers. It was raining, but unfortunately not enough to cancel the practical. They were all ordered to head to the L.O hall when the time for the period came.

At the moment it was still only register period. Marco had taken attendance and informed the class of the day’s schedule as well as any important news. There weren’t any absent teachers either, so some of the students were miserable. At least they got to wear their school tracksuit though.

Well, everyone except Kris. He had come in after Marco’s announcement the previous day and had not been informed. At his school in Sina they hadn’t done things the way this school did. For instance, his school did have a period dedicated to physical education, but that was it. There was no theory work and the tracksuits that the school provided them with (that they paid for) was the standard uniform during cold weather. At this school the tracksuits were only allowed to be worn during the L.O practical. That amounted to only twice or three times a term. They paid a lot of money for it but were forbidden to wear it. Kris mostly puzzled over this new information as Eren explain it to him, as the brown-haired boy had done since they had sat down for register. Eren had moved to sit beside Kris in Berik’s seat, because the boy as well as Reiner hadn’t shown up for school yet. Berthold was there but he looked nervous and avoided eye contact. Kris had been extremely relieved to see his attackers hadn’t come to school, but he worried that maybe Ymir had hurt them a tad bit too much.

“So you actually lose marks if you don’t wear it. I think it’s stupid, we all do, because some people don’t want to spend so much money for something they can’t even wear.”

Kris had his head titled to the side. “It doesn’t make any sense at all. This school doesn’t have a winter uniform?”

“Nope,” Eren answered. “We just layer our jerseys and pull-overs.” Eren sighed dramatically. “Gah! I’m so excited for the practical!”

“I’m guessing you’re the only one.” Kris laughed at the broad grin that spread out on Eren’s face.

“I get to run around and get marks for it! It’s the best period ever!”

“It sounds fun.” Kris smiled genuinely and then looked around the classroom again. Ymir hadn’t come to school yet either. Kris was highly disappointed and worried. He wanted to see Ymir, but where could he be?

Eren continued to yell on about how he loved competing with his best friend and brother. He also complained about how Mikasa always beat him in everything they did. Kris only listened half-heartedly. He was staying on high alert for a familiar freckled brunette, and eventually his efforts were reworded when Ymir finally strode through the door and apologised to Marco for being late.

“Sorry, teach. I was held back by the rain.”

Marco smiled and waved his hand in dismissal. “No need to apologise. A lot of people are struggling in this weather. At least you didn’t get wet.”

Ymir nodded once and then started for his desk at the back of the class. He didn’t notice Kris, and had in fact forgotten to look for him, until the blonde caught his wrist and tugged him to a halt.

“Hi Ymir!” Kris beamed up at him and Ymir merely stared down.

“Do you need something?”

Kris released Ymir’s wrist after realizing that he had been holding onto it for too long. “Oh, uh I thought that maybe you could sit by me? Eren can move back to his seat. Berik isn’t here.”

Ymir glanced around the classroom and confirmed for himself that Berik wasn’t there. He then looked back at Kris with a disinterested gaze and shrugged. “No, I’m cool.” And then he turned and strode to his desk, dumped his bags by the feet of the table and dropped down into his seat. He then dropped his head onto his folded arms on the desk and fell into a light nap.

Kris watched him the entire time and sighed softly to himself. _Did I do something to weird him out? Was I being too forward?_

Eren, who had stopped speaking to observe the interaction, finally decided to voice a question he had been meaning to ask. “How do you know Ymir?”

Kris turned around in his seat to face Eren and he smiled. “Yesterday he saved me, kind of.”

Eren immediately straightened in his chair and his face flushed with red. “WHAT? So the rumour is true? Who the hell was beating on you?!” He had leaped forward and grabbed the front of Kris’ shirt and now he was steadily shaking Kris until he answered.

“Relax! It’s over now, I’m safe. Who did it doesn’t matter, because I’m pretty sure they won’t do it again.”

Eren nodded and let the boy go, but he glanced over to Berthold with a suspicious glare. He had a pretty accurate guess as to who the culprits were, and they were lucky that they hadn’t come to school that day, though Eren made a mental note to have a nice _chat_ with Berthold later.

“Listen, Kris. If anyone ever gives you problems come to me and I’ll destroy them!” Eren punched his fist into his open palm. “I’ll destroy anyone who hurts you.”

The fire in the boy’s eyes made Kris shift slightly away from him and wave his hands. “Oh, no, no, no! I’ll be fine. You don’t need to destroy anyone. Really!”

Eren took a deep breath to yell that he did, but then Marco returned after going to the office to have copies done of some important papers and he made an announcement. “Alright, boys, when the bell rings we all need to head over to the L.O hall. Kris,” Marco sent an apologetic smile at the blonde boy. “I apologise for forgetting to inform you,” he then turned his eyes to the other students. “Does anyone maybe have an extra set of clothes for Kris?”

Before anyone else could, Ymir raised his long arm. The action startled everyone, Kris the most, and Marco furrowed his brows. “Uh, yes Ymir?” Marco wasn’t sure if Ymir was responding to his question or simply stretching.

Ymir sat up straight and glared at his teacher. “I brought an extra tracksuit. I figured the new kid wouldn’t have one.”

Eren mumbled something in surprise and Kris blushed. Ymir had thought about him?

“Oh,” Marco’s confusion melted to happiness. “That’s wonderful of you Ymir! We only have a few minutes until the bell rings so could you take Kris to the bathroom so that he can get dressed?”

Ymir nodded and stood up wordlessly. He snatched his extra bag from the floor, swung it over his shoulder and then walked out of the class. For a moment Kris sat at his desk, in a sort of daze, but then Eren nudged his side and he hurried to catch up to the brunette.

“Ymir?”

They were walking towards the bathroom, down to the corner of the building, and Ymir glanced behind him with that uninterested gaze he often had. Kris wondered if he _always_ looked so bored.

“Mm?”

“Th-thank you.” Kris blushed lightly and glanced down at his feet.

“You shouldn’t be thanking me,” Ymir commented. He walked into the bathroom and then flashed a suspicious grin over at the blushing blonde. He tossed the bag at him and Kris caught it with a gasp.

“Wh-why not?” Kris asked with a stutter. He hated how nervous he sounded, because he wasn’t usually this shy, but something about Ymir’s strong presence just made him tremble with nerves and tingle with butterflies.

“Yesterday I saved you from those guys and today I’m saving you with this,” Kris began to undress with his back turned to the tall brunette. He didn’t see the slight widening of Ymir’s eyes as they swept over his exposed skin. “So now you owe me even more than before.”

“Owe you?”

Kris was busy slipping a shirt over his head. The air was cold, especially against his exposed skin and he shivered because of it. Ymir couldn’t help but slightly tilt his head to glance at Kris’ abdomen.

The boy was skinny and small but he had some muscle on him. It was probably also due to the cold that his muscles were tensed so much, making them appear more defined. The curve of his back was much the same, the muscles in them coiled and probably hard to the touch.

Ymir shook out of his sudden trance and nervously scratched the back of his neck in an attempt to hide his own little blush. Kris never knew and didn’t notice once he had finished clothing himself and turned around to face the older boy.

“So I owe you for this as well?” Kris seemed to think about it for a while and then he nodded to himself and turned a stunning smile to Ymir. “Okay! I’ll do whatever you want me to do to pay my debt to you.”

Ymir blinked once, then twice and then a third time. “Seriously? You’re okay with it, just like that?”

Kris nodded. “You saved me after all. You deserve payment.”

Ymir scratched at his freckled cheek. No one had ever said that to him, but he wasn’t about to complain or disagree. If the kid thought that of him then he would be more than content to leave him believing that.

Kris, on the other hand, was overjoyed that he would have an excuse to interact with Ymir. He hadn’t really thought that Ymir was serious about the whole owing him thing, but this proved that he was. He just hoped that Ymir wouldn’t ask for anything weird.

Suddenly the bell rang and both boys were startled out of their thoughts. They shared a shy glance, Ymir’s filled with both smugness and masked hesitation. Kris smiled at him and then they head back to class together.

XxX

Surprisingly enough the L.O hall was large enough to fit the entirety of grade 12. The classes were given different corners to wait in until their teachers gave them instructions on what to do. There were various sporting tools set up, such as a soccer net in the centre of the hall against the wall. There were traffic cones lined up a distance in front of it, which led Kris to believe that they were going to do something concerning soccer. He felt mostly excited to experience this for the first time but he did feel a bit nervous. Kris wasn’t known for his wonderful sporty coordination. In fact, it would take him a few seconds to react to a ball thrown his way, which would be about the time the ball had already bounced off of his face and dribbled away on the floor.

Kris couldn’t help it. Due to his family status, that being the well-established Reiss family, he had been sheltered during his entire childhood. He had only been allowed to attend Sina Private Boys Academy because he had begged on his knees. It had been his first time interacting with other people. Even though he had never been able to actually make any friends, his brother had been there with him for the first year of highschool. Unfortunately his brother was a few years older and graduated when Kris went to grade 9. This left Kris alone and vulnerable. People prayed on his kindness and naivety, but he tried not to dwell on the past too much. This was his last year of highschool, and even though he was sent here for sensitive reasons, he was sure this would be the first time he would enjoy school.

He already had great friends and it was only the second day.

“Kris!” From across the hall Sasha waved enthusiastically. Kris waved back with just as much enthusiasm.

“You know Sasha too?” Eren questioned from his side.

“Oh!” Kris startled slightly and whirled around to see where Ymir had gone. They had been slightly late and had to walk to the hall together, but now it seemed that the brunette had slunk off somewhere. Kris was disappointed but he masked it with a smile directed at Eren.

“I have last class biology with him. He’s really nice.”

Eren suddenly placed his hands on Kris’ shoulders. “He may be nice but he is one hell of an eater. Be careful. If you agree to give him food then he’ll never leave you alone.”

Kris had a flashback of his promise to Sasha and he grinned sheepishly. “I already did. But it’s okay, I don’t mind.”

Eren deflated in satisfaction and stepped back to place his hands over his hips. “Mikasa?” he called out and seconds later an attractive black haired boy, the complete opposite of Eren, stepped up to them and locked his eyes onto Eren.

“Yes?”

“Remember the new kid I told you about, Kristopher Reiss?”

Mikasa nodded and swept his short fringe out of his eyes. His cold grey eyes flicked over to Kris in understanding and he offered a short wave. “Hi Kris, I’m Mikasa, this idiot’s brother.”

Eren sputtered in surprise. “How did you know that it’s him?!”

Mikasa looked back at Eren with a perturbed look and then he simply shook his head and stepped up to Kris who was smiling in amusement.

“If Eren annoys you let me know and I’ll drag him off. He can be a handful sometimes.”

Kris was initially intimidated by the well-built boy but now that Mikasa let a small playful smile play at his lips Kris felt a bit more at ease with him. The coldness in his eyes melted some and his presence became just a little less intimidating.

“It’s okay, Eren is really nice. I like him.”

Mikasa seemed pleased despite his earlier comments about his brother. “Good,” he commented airily. He glanced over at Eren with fondness but then someone suddenly crashed into him, making Kris squeak and jump back a few steps. Mikasa and another blonde tumbled to the ground, both of them cursing and yelling.

“What the hell Ackerman!” the new blonde yelled in anger. He was on top of Mikasa and was angrily glaring down at him.

“Get off of me, Leonhardt,” Mikasa warned steadily. He shoved the blonde and then they both stood and immediately locked glares. They stood so close that their chests were touching. “Watch where you fall, idiot.”

The blonde’s eyes grew fierce. “What where you _stand._ ” They faced off for moments more until the blonde boy’s teacher called for the class and he had no choice but to back down. There was a clear challenge in his eyes while he slowly walked away, though, and when he glanced over at the soccer setup Mikasa nodded.

“Wow, they must really hate each other,” Kris commented softly to Eren. Mikasa was still standing in the same spot, glaring as hotly at the other blonde boy as he could.

“Hate?” Eren laughed loudly. “God no. They’re in love.”

Kris’ eyes widened in shock. “In love? But… but they looked so mad at each other!”

Eren shrugged. “I don’t understand it either but they get off on that. Trust me. They’ve been dating since the start of highschool. Those two boink as hard as they punch, and the same amount of times too. If they have a fight, expect them to disappear right after and not return until hours later.” Eren seemed completely at ease with his explanation and he laughed again at the shock clearly written all over Kris’ face. “I’ll ask him to introduce you to Annie during break.”

“Annie?”

“That’s his name. Well, his name is Andrew but we all call him Annie.” Eren shrugged. “It’s been like this since we were all little.”

Kris nodded slowly, still digesting all of this information.

“Alright class, please divide into groups of two each and gather by me!” Marco called over to his students scattered around the hall.

Mikasa immediately latched onto Eren just as the boy had been reaching for Kris, and then he dragged him over to their teacher. Kris swallowed in nervousness. He hadn’t expected there to be groups. Every single time they were tasked with pairing up he was the last to be chosen, and that was never a good feeling. But this time was different, since Kris felt a hand brush against his lower back and he looked up to see Ymir leaning over his shoulder.

“What’s wrong? You looked like you were about to cry.”

Kris flushed completely and folded his arms across his chest. “Was not! I’m just…” Kris looked down at his feet in sadness.

Shocking him to no end, Ymir lifted Kris’ chin with a finger. He leaned down to closely inspect the younger boy’s face and then he snorted softly and straightened. “Don’t frown like that, it looks ugly.” Kris swallowed. “We need to go, partner.” Ymir tugged at Kris’ hand and pointed at their class. Everyone had gathered and they were no now only waiting for Ymir and Kris.

“Wait… are you going to pair up with me?”

Ymir paused and looked down at Kris in confusion. “Do you see anyone else I could pair up with?”

Kris noticed that everyone in their class already had a partner. He felt slightly hurt. Had Ymir only approached him because everyone else had been chosen? A slight twinge of hope made Kris believe that Ymir had wanted to partner up with him. He decided to go with the latter, and his expression visibly lightened.

Ymir noticed and smirked. “Come on, cry baby.” He pulled Kris with him and they finally joined their class. As Marco went through the next activities with them, explaining what was expected and how much marks were allocated to which tasks, Kris couldn’t help but glance up at Ymir when he thought the taller boy wasn’t looking.

When Marco was about done explaining, Kris was staring at Ymir’s freckles again but the brunette decided to look at him this time and he lifted an eyebrow when Kris immediately looked away and blushed.

Marco ordered them to spread out and the class began to participate in the practical.

XxX

It wasn’t as bad as Kris had thought it would be. They had to kick the ball around the traffic cones and then kick it into the net while their partner played goal keeper, and Kris had managed to trip only once. He did miss the ball at the moment of the final kick, which made his classmates chuckle and Ymir burst out laughing. Despite his embarrassment Kris didn’t feel like they were mocking him. Many other guys kicked the traffic cones across the hall, fell on their faces or kicked the ball in the completely wrong direction. No one here laughed at someone else to bring them down, and it made Kris feel warm all over.

What especially warmed his heart was when Ymir approached him after they were finally done and offered him a pat on the shoulder.

“You weren’t so bad out there, squirt.”

“Thanks!” Kris was so happy at his effort that he didn’t even complain about the short comment.

“Why are you so short?”

Until Ymir brought it up in a blatant way.

Kris turned to him with a frown. “Why are you so tall?”

Ymir grinned predatorily. “Because I’m just pumped with testosterone.”

“If that’s true then you should be bald.”

Ymir snorted. “But seriously, how old are you really?”

Kris sighed and kicked at the ground underneath his shoe. They were busy walking with their class back to their classroom. Most of them were talking amongst themselves, recounting hilarious happenings from the practical and giving each other grief over it, but in a way only a friend could.

“How do you know that I’m younger?”

Ymir scratched his cheek as he considered the question. “Well, I remember reading an article about the Reiss family. It was probably a year ago, and they mentioned you, the youngest son. Plus you’re way too small to be an eighteen year old.”

Kris slipped his hands into the pockets of the tracksuit pants. He could never escape his name, could he? “I’m two years younger than you.”

“Three.”

Kris looked up in question.

“I, uh…” Ymir put his hands into his pockets too and looked away. “I’m repeating the year.”

Kris’ eyes widened. “So you’re turning nineteen this year?”

“My birthday was in February, so I’m already nineteen.”

Kris’s eyes began to sparkle. “That’s so exciting! Do you have your driver’s license? A car? Do you go to clubs and stay up late at night doing whatever you want?”

Ymir regarded Kris’ with amusement. “Oh hell, you’re definitely only sixteen.”

“What? I think being legal is exciting.”

“No it isn’t.” Ymir ran a hand through his brown hair. He paused a moment to remind himself that he needed to get it cut or tie it up. His fringe was getting goddamn long and he hated the crawling sensation of hair brushing against the back of his neck. “I do have a licence, but not a car.” He grinned smugly. “I have a bike.”

Kris tilted his head. “But anyone can get a bicycle.”

Ymir stopped walking entirely to laugh right in Kris’ face. “No, dumbass! A motorbike.” He clutched at his stomach and leaned forward to laugh some more.

Kris blushed and carried on walking without waiting for Ymir. The brunette noticed and ran ahead to catch up with him.

“Oh come on, are you mad at me now?”

Kris sighed. “I’m not mad, just embarrassed. It isn’t nice to laugh at people when they misunderstand.”

Ymir sighed dramatically. “But I can’t help it if it’s goddamn funny.” Kris refused to look at him and quickened his pace. Ymir considered letting the blonde walk away, but he had a request for him and he didn’t want there to be a chance of refusal, so he rolled his eyes and grabbed Kris by the arm to stop him. “Look, I’m sorry for laughing. It was an asshole thing to do.”

Kris finally met his eyes and then he smiled. He still had a slight blush adorning his cheeks though, and Ymir grinned naughtily at the sight. He just couldn’t help it.

“Thank you Ymir, I forgive you.” Kris continued to smile up at him and Ymir felt a very awkward silence falling upon them, but then Kris suddenly gasped and he grabbed both of Ymir’s hands. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. I’ll wash the tracksuit and give it back to you tomorrow. Thank you again for it, though.”

Ymir awkwardly pulled his hands free and ran a hand through his hair. “Nah, keep it. It doesn’t fit me anymore anyway.” He grinned slightly when he noticed again how the uniform was just slightly too big for the blonde boy. “And it looks like you still need to grow into it.”

Kris lifted his arms and stared at the sleeves that needed to be folded once so that he could use his hands. He released a genuine laugh, the first Ymir had heard, and nodded. “You’re right, I do. Hopefully I get some kind of growth spurt or something. I hate people seeing me as some kind of midget.”

Ymir grinned and clapped a hand right on top of Kris’ head. He tousled his hair while he chuckled. “Small people are lucky. You don’t have awkwardly long limbs.”

“But you can run faster than us.”

“We walk into things.”

“But you can reach the top shelf with ease!”

“And you can hide in small places where no one can find you.”

“Tall people are attractive.” Kris froze after he said that and then he blushed. His heart began pounding in his chest, especially when Ymir removed his hand and looked away. Did he do something wrong again?

“And short people are cute.” Ymir grinned cheekily.

Kris’s heart fluttered and his stomach filled with butterflies. He smiled in happiness, because that was most definitely a compliment directed at him. He looked down at his shoes again and rubbed at the back of his neck.

“By the way, are you free this afternoon?”

Kris’ head shot up. “I am!”

“Great!” Ymir smirked in a way that made Kris wary.

“Uh… why do you ask?”

Ymir leaned in close to his face and kept that scary grin on his face. Just like the day before he looked very satisfied and accomplished with himself. “I’m taking you home, short-stuff.”

Kris swallowed audibly. Was that his heart beating so fast? How wasn’t Ymir hearing it? “U-um… why?”

Ymir straightened and shook his head. “Ain’t telling. I’ll see you later at my house, yeah? You don’t have a choice.” Ymir turned and started walking back to class, still grinning to himself.

Kris quickly caught up but the boy was so flustered with the many different possibilities filling his mind that he barely registered his surroundings.

Suddenly the day couldn’t pass by fast enough.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a kudos & comment.


	3. Chapter 3

First break arrived fairly quickly, though the time was passing by achingly slowly by Kris’ standards. He couldn’t stop himself from glancing at the clock every few minutes and willing time to move faster.

He was now with Eren and the green eyed boy was taking him over to his group of friends. They had an area close to the bathrooms that they used for each break. There were benches situated underneath big trees, and when they arrived Mikasa was seated on one of them with Sasha beside him.

Much to Kris’ surprise Annie was there too but he was seated on the ground and he was leaning against Mikasa’s legs. Kris now officially believed Eren that the two were dating, since they both looked fairly content and Mikasa was also running his hand through Annie’s short blonde hair.

“Kris! Mikasa is being mean!” Sasha flung himself at the short blonde after noticing him and started to wail. Kris glanced nervously at Mikasa who merely nodded at him and made no move to explain. Eren rolled his eyes though and took a seat beside his brother on the other side of the bench.

“Where’s Armin?” he asked.

Mikasa shrugged lightly. “He said he was going to the school library to get a few books. He’s probably in there studying.”

From where he sat Annie agreed. “Don’t expect to see him today.”

Eren sighed sadly and opened his lunchbox. He started munching on his sandwich, distracted and barely tasting what he was shoving into his mouth. Annie frowned at him and Mikasa didn’t notice.

“Um… guys…” Kris roused all of their attention when he timidly called for them. Sasha was still clinging to his waist and crying, but Kris didn’t know what to do and was about to panic. Mikasa saw the look on his face and sighed in displeasure. He simply reached out, grabbed the back of Sasha’s shirt and then pulled him backwards. Sasha wailed as he flew backwards and ended up nearly in Mikasa’s lap. Bread was shoved into his mouth and then he calmed.

“There, now stop bugging Kris.”

Sasha whimpered in delight and nibbled on the fresh slice of bread that Mikasa had provided. Mikasa always brought delicious food to school and Sasha would always beg. Usually Mikasa wouldn’t mind sharing some, because he had grown to understand that Sasha would persist until he got what he wanted. But this particular break Mikasa had refused – until now.

Annie suddenly stood and approached the nervous blonde boy who hadn’t taken a seat yet. “Hi, I’m Annie.” He held a hand out and roughly shook Kris’s when the shorter boy provided his too. Kris cringed at the strong grip and lightly rubbed his hand when it was released.

“It’s nice to meet you Annie, I’m Kris.”

Annie grinned lightly, and Kris didn’t understand why. “I know. We all know.”

“Um… what do you mean?”

Annie returned to his earlier seat but this time he rested his head on Mikasa’s lap and closed his eyes. “After what Berik pulled the entire school heard about you. Every guy here is gossiping.”

“It’s unavoidable,” Mikasa added.

“I still don’t believe the part where Ymir plays hero. That bastard doesn’t put his neck out for anyone.”

Kris inhaled sharply. “It’s true!” he exclaimed. “I mean… Ymir did save me.” He blushed lightly and then suddenly looked around him. “Speaking of him, where is he?”

Annie opened his eyes to share a glance with Mikasa. “Uh,” Mikasa began, “Ymir doesn’t like hanging out with people. He used to chill with us but now he just wonders around.”

Kris started biting the inside of his cheek. It didn’t sit well with him that Ymir was out there alone somewhere. The thought just didn’t make him feel good. He could sit down with these guys and enjoy a break with them, but his worry for Ymir would consume him. So Kris decided that he would find Ymir and provide company for him.

“I appreciate that you all were willing to welcome me into your group,” Kris said, “but I just remembered something I needed to tell Ymir… about yesterday. Can I hang out during second break?”

Eren had apparently focused back on the present at some point and exclaimed his answer with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. “Of course! You’re always welcome with us.”

“I agree,” Mikasa said.

Annie nodded and grunted. “Yeah.”

“Agsdghgf.” Sasha’s agreement was mostly unintelligible, but Kris got the idea. He smiled happily at the others and then hurried off to find his favourite brunette.

Just thinking about seeing him again made butterflies flutter in Kris’ stomach.

He started by searching at their register class but he wasn’t there, or anywhere near the L.O hall. Kris was starting to think that he would never find him but then he spotted Ymir sitting by the stairs and his heart fluttered. Kris immediately bounded over to him and ascended the stairs until he was standing directly in front of Ymir, hands clasped behind his back and a happy smile on his face.

“Hi.”

Ymir blinked slowly and lowered the sandwich he had been chewing on. The glaze over his eyes melted until recognition filled them, and then his eyes narrowed and he shoved Kris to the side, out of his view.

“What do you want?”

Kris caught himself on the railing and breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t trip and fall down the stairs. Ymir glanced at him with slight guilt.

“Sorry for the shove.”

“I-it’s okay. I, um, just thought that you looked lonely.”

Ymir stared at him for a long while and then he snorted and continued eating. Kris stood there awkwardly for a moment and then decided to finally take a seat. He ended up pressed to Ymir’s side as people passed by. Ymir didn’t offer any reaction but his heart was beating faster than usual. Kris immediately put some space between them when the people had moved past, but Ymir wished that more people would walk down the stairs.

“So, um, you sit alone during breaks?”

Ymir finished eating his sandwich and leaned against the wall. “Yeah,” he responded tonelessly.

“Don’t you get lonely?”

“No.”

“But how? Everyone craves company.”

Ymir shrugged. “Talking takes a lot of energy. Maintaining relationships aren’t worth my time.”

“Maybe you just haven’t met someone worth trying for,” Kris suggested. He offered a hopeful smile and it wavered slightly when Ymir sent him a narrowed glare.

Ymir didn’t say anything else and rested his head against the wall too. He closed his eyes and Kris feared that he would fall asleep, since he had been able to sleep in class with ease. Kris wondered if Ymir was the type to easily fall asleep anywhere.

The brunette was just about to have a power nap until Kris was suddenly shoved into him by some guys descending the stairs. They complained at the two for sitting there, right in the way, and Ymir sent them glares that made them shut up and hurry off.

“Are you okay?” Ymir grumbled to the blonde boy who had ended up in his lap.

Kris blushed furiously at his position and immediately straightened. “Yes! I’m fine, thank you for asking.” He made to shift away once more but Ymir suddenly tugged him right up against his side. Kris blushed deeper and glanced up at Ymir in question.

Ymir shrugged. “You’ll get shoved again,” was all he supplied. Kris was happy to accept it and they fell into awkward silence.

“So Kris, how come you’re in grade 12 even though you’re so young?” Ymir suddenly asked. If the kid wasn’t going to leave him, and he wouldn’t admit that he was glad, then he should at least get some of his curiosity sated.

“Oh, it’s actually a really pathetic story.”

“So? I still want to hear it.” Ymir flashed a grin that Kris was definitely starting to like. It was naughty with a hint of a dare, and it made Kris give his best impression of it in return.

“Okay, but I warned you.” Ymir just snorted and then he rested his head against the wall again and closed his eyes. “I started highschool like everyone else, but it had actually been my first time in an actual school. I had been home schooled until that point. My brother was with me for the first year but then he graduated, and people weren’t all that friendly. The school I was in was a really prestigious school. I ended up spending most of my time studying and because of that I skipped two grades. I didn’t want to but my parents forced me to accept it. So I started matric there but a lot of the guys there were envious, and they started to pick on me because of that and my obvious small size. I’m also stupidly kind, which they picked on too. After being bullied for the last time it was decided that I would be sent here to live with my aunt, and here I am.”

Ymir didn’t open his eyes for a while and remained motionless. Kris thought that he had bored him or something and that he had fallen asleep, but he eventually lifted his head and shook the hair out of his eyes. “Sounds shitty,” Ymir commented brazenly.

Kris smiled. “Even so, I’m glad all of that happened.”

Ymir eyed him. “And why the hell would that make you happy?”

Kris blushed and glanced down at his lap. “Well, even though I barely know you I feel happy that I had a chance to meet you. The other guys too. People here are a lot friendlier than in Sina, and you don’t mock me for being short and not as muscular as men are supposed to be.” Kris paused. “Well, you do tease me about it, Ymir.” He smiled in amusement at the worried frown that grazed Ymir’s face and the fact that he tried to hide it.

“So the hell what? You’re short. I just point that out. I’ve been called freckles my whole life. It can’t be an insult if it’s goddamn true.”

Kris realized how true it was. He lifted a hand and hesitantly touched the freckles sprinkled out on Ymir’s cheek. The brunette tensed slightly but didn’t move away from the touch, and Kris apologised softly while he quickly withdrew his hand. He still wasn’t sure if Ymir was irritated with him or glad for his company. He wasn’t even sure if Ymir was neutral on the topic.

“You know… I like your freckles.”

Ymir laughed. “You like them? No one has ever said that to me before.”

Kris smiled happily that he made the other boy laugh. “Well I do. I think they make your face look less intimidating. They’re cute.”

Ymir blushed lightly and quickly turned his face to hide it. He stood and hurried down the stairs, but paused at the bottom. “The bell rang, blondie. Are you going to skip class on top of sounding like a weirdo?”

Kris didn’t flinch at the remark. It wasn’t done maliciously, he could feel it. He instead beamed and nodded. “I’m coming!” He stood too and hurried to join Ymir on the ground floor. Once they were reunited they headed towards their respective classes, splitting up halfway through because they weren’t in the same class for every subject.

Kris was sad to leave Ymir’s side, but he occupied himself by remembering that Ymir was to take him home. What thoughts plagued him after reminding himself of that fact was really unavoidable, and Eren had wondered why Kris was blushing so intensely as their accounting teacher read from the textbook.

XxX

The minutes were ticking by, slowly but surely. Kris was watching them diligently, though he tried to keep track of what Mr Zoe was saying in front of the class. It was difficult, however, since the closer the clock ticked the more intensely Kris willed it to move faster. His burning curiosity was also combined with his vast nervousness.

Ymir hadn’t said a word to him when biology class had started, making Kris fearful. Had he done something to upset him? Why wasn’t he trying to talk?

Oddly enough, Ymir seemed to actually listen in class and contemplate the complicatedness of Meiosis and DNA replication. Kris was in fact contemplating him. Well, that and the time. It was going so slowly, though a part of Kris was apprehensive and hoping it would move quicker.

Did Ymir expect him to still go home with him, and if so, what did he want? Was it perhaps just a strange prank for the brunette’s odd sense of humour? Kris pondered that. He realized that he did not actually know what amused Ymir. Though he did seem the type to laugh at another’s expense, despite his heroic save the previous day.

Kris had expected Ymir to give him some sort of hint or grin over at him in that triumphant way, but Ymir had already had his nose stuck between his textbook when Kris had first sat down at the desk. He had looked so concentrated that Kris hadn’t had the heart to rudely distract him, and then when class began his chance to do so was taken from him. Kris would never be so rude as to attempt to talk to someone while their teacher spoke during the lesson. It didn’t seem that they would get a reprieve though, and the work scribbled on the chalk board was surely going to be their homework for the next day. Kris had already written it down in pencil at the top of his book.

Mr Zoe continued to drone on in front and Kris once more peeked up at the clock. One thirty-four. There were only six minutes left. A feeling of dread and exhilaration showed themselves as eager butterflies fluttering in Kris’ belly. Sasha, from his seat in front, had noticed his new friend’s disquiet since the moment they had seated themselves. That was the sole reason he had not spun around to talk to the boy. He was not as concerned about rules as Kris was, and would have shamelessly spoken to whomever about whatever entertained him. Of course, he never stopped long enough to really consider it, so it hardly bothered him.

Sasha was tempted to turn around and ask him now, but with time so short he decided it wasn’t worth it. He would most definitely ask once school was over, though, and there was no way little Kris could escape. Sasha snickered darkly to himself before he focused back onto the teacher.

Kris did not notice and eventually the minutes passed and the intercom went off to announce a last few things before the bell rang, and when it did Ymir made fast like the previous day and disappeared out of the class ahead of everyone else. Kris had been in the process of packing when it happened, but he paused to stare in confusion at the back of Ymir’s head before the brunette disappeared from sight.

Where was he going? Weren’t they supposed to go home together? Kris heart dropped liked a stone. Did he imagine that Ymir had asked to take him home?

“Yo Pumpkin, why the long face?”

Kris startled and glanced up. Sasha was walking in front of him but doing it backwards, and he was leaning forward to stare closely at Kris’ face. Kris suddenly realized that he had already packed and left class. What the… when had he done that? He had been so lost in thought that his body must have gone on autopilot.

“Sasha!” Kris exclaimed. “Nothing. I was just distracted.” He smiled brightly to dissuade the brunette’s worries, but it was evident that Sasha saw right through it.

“Aw come on. I saw you looking all nervous in class. Ymir didn’t talk to you at all either.” Sasha skipped to Kris side to stride properly next to him and pressed a finger to his chin in thought. They were busy walking towards the gate, where a long string of students followed.

“No really,” Kris said. “I’m fine.”

Sasha shook his head. “Yeah, and I don’t love food.” The boy laughed loudly at the preposterous thought even though it had been said to prove a point. He regained his serious air quickly. “Kris is Ymir giving you trouble too? Because if he is we can always go to the guys and they’ll talk to him. You aren’t alone.” Though Sasha was being a worried friend and he was sincere in his concern, the thought of what he was suggesting made Kris tingle unpleasantly.

“No!” he exclaimed a tad bit too intensely, and Sasha flinched slightly. “I’m sorry… didn’t mean to sound so harsh. It’s just…” The memory of the previous day, of the anger that had lit Ymir’s brown orbs with such majesty filled Kris’ mind. All of his negative emotions suddenly fell away and his shoulders visibly lifted. Sure, he didn’t know Ymir yet, but something about the brunette just _told_ him to believe in him. It _dared_ him, even. Ymir was not up to no good (not including the nature of the request) and he wasn’t simply playing a cruel joke. Kris suddenly believed that the brunette had his own sort of mission. What that was Kris didn’t know, but he was soon to find out.

“It’s just?” Sasha enquired. His worry had dimmed after the sadness washed off of Kris’ face and he saw a slight fire return to his eyes. He smiled slightly but waited for Kris to elaborate. Another big part of Sasha really wanted to know what was bothering his pal.

“Ymir wanted me to go home with him now, but he left class so suddenly and I was stressing the entire day.” Kris shyly rubbed his blushing cheek. “That’s all. Ymir didn’t do anything bad. He never would. Well, he teases me but I don’t really… mind.”

Sasha contemplated as he stared down at their moving feet. Suddenly he stopped as they reached the entrance of the gate and leaned against it as he broke into thunderous laughter. He bent over and clutched at his stomach. Puzzled, Kris paused by his side and looked around to see what could have amused him. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and in fact they were receiving odd glances from the other boys walking by.

“Sasha?”

“He wants to take you home?” Sasha exclaimed while recovering. “That’s hilarious! First he saves you and now he invites you home. Kris, I think you have a wild imagination. Ymir would never ask… something like… th…at…” The end of Sasha’s sentence hung in shock and puzzled Kris further, until he glanced up at where the brunette was looking in shock.

Surprise filled Kris’ features seconds before his face lit up with a brilliant smile. Ymir, from where he waited, rolled his eyes and inclined his head. The tall brunette was directly in front of them by the road, straddling his bike. He had his helmet on and held another out towards Kris.

“Stop gaping and get on, squirt!” he yelled in exasperation.

Kris startled into action and scurried over to take the helmet. He couldn’t get it on, partly because he didn’t know how and partly because his hands were suddenly trembling. Ymir sighed and leaned over to help him and then he straightened and threw a point over his shoulder.

“Sit, hold tight and lean with me when I turn. Ever ride a bike before?”

Kris shook his head dumbly and struggled to climb onto the bike. He managed after two failed attempt, just as Ymir had been about ready to strangle him, and then his arms wound instinctively around Ymir’s body and tightened.

“I haven’t,” Kris finally answered vocally. “But I guess it’s time that I tried.”

Ymir smirked in his helmet and glanced one last time over at Sasha who was still gaping and pointing in shock, and then he kicked his bike to life and drove out of the school area. He did not speed, of course. He had someone on-board with him and if something happened he would never hear the end of it. His mother was more than terrified of his bike already.

The streets close to the school were jam packed with cars of parents fetching their sons, so getting out of the vicinity had taken longer than expected. Further on traffic had thinned and besides the odd red light, the ride went smoothly and without pause.

Kris was absolutely exhilarated. He had his helmeted face pressed to Ymir’s back and his arms refused to unwind themselves enough to let the brunette breathe, and luckily Ymir was really enjoying the sensation so he didn’t complain. He shivered lightly at the heat and wondered if Kris would suspect him if he went the long route home. Deciding not to chance it, Ymir took his usual path and they parked in his driveway minutes later.

Kris did not disengage his arms until Ymir had tilted the bike onto its stand, removed his helmet and tapped his arm.

“Dude, let go already.”

Kris quickly did, with some reluctance. He struggled with his helmet and then gasped softly into the fresh air. It was still really cold and luckily it hadn’t rained, but the wind was icy and he was absolutely freezing after being subjected to the whipping frosty air.

“So?” Ymir asked with a cocky smirk. “As epic as you expected?”

Kris looked up at him with wide, excited eyes and he nodded vigorously. “That was the most exhilarating experience of my life!” He laughed for a little moment before he reminded himself to calm down. “Thank you Ymir,” he said sincerely. “Truly.”

Ymir chuckled darkly and pulled Kris’ tie out of his pullover to tug it as he walked towards the front door. Kris blushed and had no choice but to follow. “Don’t thank me just yet,” Ymir said suspiciously.

Kris decided not to comment and would rather wait to see what this was all about. They entered the front door and the change in air temperature sent a pleasant burn over his skin before it adjusted to the sudden heat. He shivered lightly and then clapped his hands over his cheeks to warm them. He wasn’t sure if he was warming his hands or his cheeks, because they both felt hot and cold at the same time.

The house they had entered wasn’t all that big. Directly in front of them was a modest living room with a two-seater couch in front of a modern wall-unit, on which stood a small plasma TV and a DSTV. Kris spotted a small DVD player under the latter. The carpet was light grey and the tables as well as the walls were made of wood. The walls were of darker wood while the dining room table, situated to the right of the space directly behind the couch, and the coffee tables were all lighter. To Kris’ right, before the dining room, was a door that led to a kitchen. The kitchen had white tiles, white cabinets with black table tops. It didn’t look all that big but it sure looked busy and someone was currently in there.

To the blonde boy’s left, extending all along the wall was a wooden staircase leading upwards. Ymir was already in the process of ascending the stairs when Kris finally noticed and dashed forward, but then a warm voice stopped them both and Kris turned towards the kitchen doorway with an embarrassed flush.

“Ymir, who is the blonde cutie?”

Ymir snorted in amusement and leaned close to the railing to give his mother a grin. “Kris,” he said simply.

She was exceptionally beautiful, to be honest. Kris hadn’t really expected that. He had built a strange assumption that Ymir would have resembled his father but he most certainly didn’t, and there was no father around at the moment. The woman, most probably much shorter than Ymir, had long brown hair down to her shoulders. It was tied up in a ponytail at the base of her neck and suddenly Kris knew how Ymir would look with the same hairstyle. She had the same tanned skin tone as Ymir and a splash of freckles along her face. It was evident where Ymir got them now. Another striking resemblance was the eyes. Ymir’s mother had the exact same shade of dark brown eyes, but it wasn’t merely that. Though she spoke with mild curiosity and warmth, she had a dangerous glint in her eyes that made Kris remember Ymir’s glances towards him in those moments he had looked accomplished.

Was she maybe his twin, and not this mother?

“Oh!” she suddenly exclaimed and Kris noticed that she was wiping her hands off on a dishtowel. Suddenly her eyes darkened to a glare that she shot towards Ymir. “Why didn’t you warn me that he was coming over? Seriously, you are so irresponsible.” She hurried to the stairs and pulled Kris down into a tight hug, pressing his face against her ample chest. Kris blushed wildly and hugged her back since he had no choice. It was oddly comforting to him and it soon became more than simply not wanting to offend her.

“Mom,” Ymir complained flatly, “you’re cleavage is suffocating him.”

She glared. “No it is not.” She pulled Kris back to smile down at him and he nervously clenched his hands. “Ymir told me about you yesterday. It’s so nice to meet you! You know, Ymir never brings friends home because he’s lame.” She stuck her tongue out at her son and Ymir’s eyebrow began to twitch.

“Kris, get the hell away from my weird-ass mother. We have business to do.” He readjusted the straps of his bag and then stomped up the stairs. He was heavily irritated, but he grinned secretly to himself in happiness that his mother immediately liked Kris. He knew that she would have.

“Uh… um… Mrs… uh… It’s really nice to meet you too!” Kris said nervously.

“Don’t be so formal with the Mrs crap! Call me Rey.” Just like Ymir she appeared to be blunt with her words and uncaring of which she used.

Kris was struck with the oddness but he flushed and smiled brightly. “Are you sure? I was brought up to always respect my elders and to call you by your first name…”

“Oh that’s just a nickname.” Rey toned her expression down and gently clasped Kris’ hands between her own. They were exceptionally warm and soft to the touch. “No one has called me Rey since I was in highschool, but that son of mine brought you home. Therefore you get a privilege. He told me about what happened,” Rey’s eyes teared up with genuine concern but she quickly sniffled them away. “You are welcome here whenever you want or need. Anytime, you can walk through my door.” She smiled motherly at him and for the first time in his life Kris felt the warmth and comfort of a mother’s affection.

Kris felt his eyes well up in appreciation and he nodded. “Thank you, Rey. I should be getting to Ymir before he gets even more irritated.”

Rey chuckled and watched the young boy hop up the stairs. He faltered at the top, since he wasn’t sure which door to take, but then a long arm shot out and pulled him into the door to his left at the end of the hallway. The brunette woman sighed as she usually did and returned to the kitchen.

“What the hell did she tell you?” Ymir demanded irritably. He had just pulled Kris into his room and shut the door.

Kris didn’t answer until he had stopped glancing around the room in wonder.

On the walls there were many, many posters of gaming and anime. There were even posters of scantily clad characters, both male and female, real life and virtual, and Kris noted with a blush that all of them were blonde. The room as rather large, with a king sized bed wedged into the top left corner beside a large window that had no bars. The curtains were a dark blue, sort of silk material that made the sunlight filtering into the room turn the room into a murky blue colour. As with the curtains the duvet set was blue as well and a blue carpet adorned the default grey carpet on the ground. The walls were wood as the rest of the house, and the roof itself wasn’t horizontal, but started from the left going upwards at an angle to the right. In front of the window and a short distance from the bed was a black computer desk, atop it notes, stationary and then a laptop that was closed and shut off. In the far off right corner was a large wardrobe, and Kris noted that there wasn’t one that had been built in. Next to the wardrobe was a wall unit similar but smaller to the one in the lounge. The plasma that sat atop it was much larger and various gaming consoles littered the space beneath it. At the side of the unit a large bookcase stood, packed full of various games, figurines and manga. Since he was still standing by the door, Kris just had to look to his immediate left and he saw the small bathroom that was built in. The door was closed, so he had yet to see what it looked like in the inside. There was no space between the walls and Ymir’s bed, and Kris wondered how he had managed to squeeze it in there. Most of the left side of his room was taken up by the bathroom, but at least it was there.

“She just said that I’m always welcome here,” Kris finally answered. His survey of the room had taken but a second, and he was still registering the little objects scattered around in various corners.

Ymir seemed a bit flushed, since he hadn’t really realized that he would be bringing another boy into his private lair. Not even Eren had been in his room when they had still hung out together.

“Oh.” Ymir finally threw his bag onto the bed and then he went over to his gaming consoles. He decided on one, slipped a disc in after switching it on and then he grabbed a controller and sat down on the floor, leaning against his bed.

“So… uh…” Kris said and gently put his bag down on the floor beside the door. He nervously shifted his feet and remained where he was. “Why did you bring me here?”

“See that?” Ymir pointed at his bag. “Quickly go over to it and take my books out.”

Kris was puzzled but he nodded and did as he was told. He was now seated beside Ymir but on top of the bed, with the brunette’s school books piled on his lap.

“Now what?”

“Uh, now only take the, uh,” Ymir lost his concentration for a moment as he focused on escaping zombies, then he hurried his character to a safe area to focus back onto reality, “dump the others and only take English, biology, Japanese, and mechanics.”

Kris furrowed his brows, but again he obediently complied and neatly stacked the unwanted books beside him on the bed. Now with reduced pile on his lap, Kris said, “okay, done. Now?”

Ymir smirked devilishly. “Now do my homework.”

Kris blinked. “Excuse me?”

The brunette did not pause his game. “I brought you here to do my homework. That will be your payment to me. You owe me, remember? So I want you to do my homework.”

“But…” Kris felt uneasy. “Ymir, how will you succeed in school if someone does all of your work for you?”

Ymir snorted. “Look, I understand the stuff and I focus in class,” _when I’m not sleeping,_ he thought. “But I don’t deal well with all the homework. Just do that for me and I’ll be happy.” He quickly glanced up at Kris. “You don’t want me to be sad, do you?”

Kris rolled his eyes and slid onto the floor beside him. “Fine, I’ll do it on one condition.”

Ymir lifted an eyebrow. “Being?”

“We study together for exams so that I can be sure that you know your work. If you agree then I’ll do your homework for however long you want me to, without complaint.”

Ymir contemplated that for a long while. The thoughts occupying him were more along the lines of how long he could milk this. There were two extremely positive points to this. One, his goddamn shit homework would be taken care off while he could play games or read manga. Two, he’d have a perfect excuse to hang out with Kris and find out everything about him

The only negative part was that he would suffer if his mother found out. As long as she didn’t, this was a sweet deal.

Ymir killed a few more hordes of zombies with an enhanced machete which had a contraption built onto it that shot long nails, and then he paused his game and turned to Kris with a serious frown.

“For the rest of the year?” he asked.

Kris grimaced slightly but nodded with a smile. “If that’s what you want, as long as we have a deal.”

Now Ymir grinned. “Sure thing, short-stuff. It’s a deal.” He held his hand out to seal the deal and felt a pleasant tingle when Kris took it.

Completely to Ymir’s’ surprise Kris handshake was stronger than anticipated.

“Okay, so get to it and don’t bug me till you’re done.” Ymir returned to playing his game and Kris slumped his shoulders.

He still had homework of his own to do, but he felt strangely happy. This meant he would get to spend every day for the rest of the year with the hottest guy he had ever met. How lucky could he get? It didn’t even matter that he was being used to do homework. Just the fact that he could help Ymir after the brunette had saved him, and that he could constantly be by his side from now on brightened Kris’ mood.

So it was with determination that Kris retrieved a pen and opened Ymir’s biology books to get started. At least when he got home he would know what the answers to the activities were, but it sucked that he would have to do all that writing again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a kudos & comment.


	4. Chapter 4

The air that night was even colder, but luckily Rey had given Kris an extra pair of gloves before Ymir had driven him home on the bike. They were currently doing that, driving steadily through the roads in the direction of Kris’s abode.

Kris had finished Ymir’s homework rather quickly and after that Rey had invaded the room, with snacks, and she and Kris ended up talking until night fell. The conversation had gone right over Ymir’s head, since he was more concerned about his game. It was only when his mother grabbed the controller from him that he woke from his trance. She then told him to take Kris home and Ymir had no choice but to consent.

The blonde boy had his arms wrapped around Ymir’s midsection. He hadn’t noticed it the first time but Ymir had a very flat and toned abdomen. Even through the clothes he could feel the hard muscles, and imagining what they looked like made an embarrassed blush join Kris’s already red cheeks.

Ymir was cold and irritated and he was hungry, so this time he didn’t much care for the warm hold. He was just eager to get Kris home and then return home himself. A nice long shower sounded wonderful as well. Hopefully his mother would give his controller back, too. Luckily the streets were mostly empty due to the cold and the late hour, so in no time Ymir stopped in front of a block of flats and he waited impatiently while Kris hopped off and struggled to remove the helmet. Ymir flipped his own helmet open and leaned over to slap the top of Kris’s head that was still covered.

“Keep it,” he said.

Kris finally removed the protective wear and sputtered. “But I can’t! This must have been expensive!”

Ymir snorted and Kris barely heard it over the motorbike’s idling engine. “I bought it for you, shorty. Like my mom said, I don’t have any other friends.” He cracked an amused grin that Kris couldn’t see. “I’m lame.”

Kris sighed but clutched the helmet to his chest and smiled. “Okay, thank you. I’ll take great care of it.”

Ymir nodded and then they fell into awkward silence. The brunette’s hands were already frozen due to the cold so he flipped his helmet closed and prepared to leave.

“Thanks!” Ymir yelled before revving the engine and doing a turn to ride back the way he had come.

Kris smiled brightly and yelled goodbye while Ymir could still hear and then he merely waved until the brunette disappeared around a corner. For a second Kris just stood there, a little startled and disappointed. Ymir was gone. Kris already missed him.

With a little sigh of loneliness Kris turned and started towards the multitude of flats. He had to ascend a flight of stairs to the second floor and then he stopped in front of door 213. He didn’t knock and pulled his own set of keys out. They rattled noisily as he unlocked the door and then when he locked it after entering.

Kris’s mind was so occupied with thoughts of the day that he never really noticed that the entire house was dark. He did realize, however, when he stepped away from the door and a lamp suddenly clicked to life.

“Where have you been all day, Kristopher?” The voice was cold and stern, making Kris swallow hard and suddenly remember that he had completely forgotten to ask for permission to go to Ymir’s house.

“I went to pick you up,” she started saying. “But I waited and you never came to the car.” Kris’s aunt glared fire at him and Kris’s heart was doing dangerous summersaults. He started to tremble in fear.

“I… uh… um... s-sorry…”

“Sorry?” Alixandria Reiss stood from where she had been patiently sitting on the couch and approached her trembling nephew. “It was agreed that you would behave,” she said angrily and grabbed the front of Kris’s shirt. She shook him suddenly and the helmet in his grasp cluttered to the floor. “Where were you, Kristopher?”

Kris’s eyes were wide with fear and his mouth moved but no sound came out. He was too shocked to move and all he could do was gap like a goldfish.

Alixandria suddenly dropped him and sighed heavily. “I always wondered how that would feel.”

A long silence prevailed where Kris merely stared, confused. He didn’t understand what had just happened, but then she suddenly grinned and ruffled Kris’s blonde hair. “I guess being aggressive doesn’t work with you.” She leaned close to inspect her nephews face. “Hello? Kris?” She laughed when she realized he was still in shock. “Oh come on! Did you really think I was mad?” She pulled him into a tight hug and was relieved that he wrapped his arms around her too. “But seriously, I was worried sick. Where were you?”

Kris took a deep breath, still a bit shaky after nearly wetting his pants. “Remember that guy I told you about, Ymir?”

“Mm? Uuuh… oh yeah, him! Yeah?”

“Well I went to his house today to, um… do homework…”

While Alixandria wasn’t impressed that he had failed to let her know, she was pleased that he seemed to have made some friends already. She let the boy go and then grabbed his face and inspected every inch of his body. There were no injuries or signs of violence, and Kris had no deep sadness in his eyes. Nothing had happened. Alix sighed deeply in relief and gently patted her nephew’s cheek.

“Alright, just let me know next time. I’d like to meet this Ymir sometime, just to make sure that you’re safe with him. Have you eaten yet?”

Kris relaxed considerably and crouched down to pick the fallen helmet up. He gingerly dusted it off and put that and his bag down on the couch. “Uh, I only had snacks that Ymir’s mom gave us. Actually, I’m really hungry.”

“Great!” Alix hurried to the phone. “What kind of pizza do you want?”

Kris laughed at his aunt and shook his head in exasperation. Even though she had insisted that he move here she couldn’t even cook. It was a wonder that she had survived alone for all these years.

Unlike most of the Reiss family Alixandria had black hair, not blonde and green eyes instead of blue. It was a strong opposite to her family heritage, and most of the family wondered how she had ended up with those genes. A long standing rumour was that her mother had slept with someone else and not her Reiss husband. Of course, it had never been proved and Alixandria herself didn’t much care. Alix was the sister of Kris’s father but she had stopped talking to him a few years into Kris’s life. It was still unknown to the blonde boy of why his aunt refused to have anything to do with her family. This actually left her with no financial support and she had to find a way to support herself.

“So,” Alix said after reappearing by Kris’s side. “I know you’ve only met him yesterday but… this Ymir…” She gave Kris a suspicious smile. “Do you perhaps have a mega crush on him?”

Kris burned bright pink with an intense blush and he immediately shook his hands and head. “What? No way! It’s only been a day. I mean, sure I really like him since he saved me but… but a crush?” Kris scratched at his cheek and noticed that his heart was racing. “Okay,” he admitted. “Maybe I do have a tiny crush on him. Who wouldn’t? He saved me. He’s kind even if he acts like he isn’t and he…” Kris fidgeted. “He is the most beautiful person I have ever met.”

Alix whistled. “Kris, you are totally into this guy. I definitely need to meet him!”

“Give me some time to get to know him and then I’ll ask him to visit.”

Alix grinned. “Alright, take your time. So why don’t you head up for a shower? The pizza should be here by the time you’re done.”

Kris nodded and shouldered his bag. “Thanks for not being mad, Alix.”

His aunt grinned and threw an arm over his shoulders to hug him. Another thing she hadn’t inherited from the Reiss gene was their tendency to be short. Alix was in fact slightly taller than the average height.

Kris hugged her back and then hurried to his room. He took a shower, ate afterwards and then sat down at his desk to get stuck into his homework. It took some time but after an hour or two he was finally done, and then he collapsed onto his bed in exhaustion and groaned.

This for the rest of the year? If Ymir wasn’t so sexy then it really wouldn’t have been so worth it.

XxX

The morning was much colder than it should have been. Kris had shivered like a Chihuahua after waking, showering and having to dress in the frosty air of his room. Unfortunately they couldn’t afford to use multiple heaters to get the place warm, so their only reliance was blankets, hot chocolate and each other’s body heat. Kris wondered if they would maybe watch a movie sometime soon, like they usually did. It was always amusing to watch a movie with Alix because she usually got too into it and either yelled or sobbed. It was also exceptionally nice to cuddle together on the couch.

Alix was her usual grumpy self, since she couldn’t handle mornings, especially cold ones. She only shuffled into the kitchen, wrapped in a blanket, drool on her chin and hair a mess, when Kris was fully dressed and swallowing the last of his breakfast.

“I made bacon and eggs,” Kris announced with a grin.

“Huh?” Alix wobbled over to the table and dropped down into the seat. She immediately slumped forward, forehead thudding against the table.

“Here,” Kris placed the plate on the table and started counting in his head. The only way to wake Alix from her usual coma was a good, tasty breakfast.

This time it had taken 9 seconds for her body to shoot up and for her nostrils to flare, inhaling the scent of crispy bacon.

“Holy hell Kris I love you so much.”

Kris laughed and gave his aunt a pat on the head. “It’s the least I can do.”

XxX

It was only his third day at school, yet Kris felt like he suddenly belonged. He didn’t know them for long, but he had already met some great guys. Their personalities sure varied, and some of them might have leaned to the odd side, but Kris was grateful to them for having reached out to him. He had been so afraid that he would never make any friends.

So it was with delight that Kris was suddenly tackled to the ground by a very energetic brunette.

“Kris!” Sasha yelled happily. “Tell me what happened yesterday!”

Kris laughed and patted Sasha’s back. “Whoa, calm down! Will you let me get up first?”

Sasha immediately stood and pulled Kris up with him. The moment they were standing he grabbed the blonde’s shoulders and then started to shake him. “Did. Ymir. Hurt. You?” Sasha demanded, worried.

Kris grabbed Sasha’s wrists to stop him and offered a smile. “No, of course not.”

“Then what did he want? Come on, tell me! Please? Pretty please with sprinkles on top?”

Kris laughed once more and then hooked his arm around Sasha’s elbow. “Okay, fine! Just, don’t tell anyone, okay?”

Sasha nodded so hard that he nearly sprained the muscles in his neck. His eyes widened and shone in excitement.

Apparently nothing really exciting happened here, so Sasha must have been ecstatic to see some sort of drama. Would he keep this to himself, though?

Kris grinned to himself. Even if he didn’t, it didn’t matter.

“You see, Ymir fell in love at first sight with me, so we went to his house to get it on. Now we’re having a secret affair and I am to be his servant every day after school.” Kris didn’t blush, but the urge to was overwhelming.

_“Kris, wait.” Ymir grabbed Kris by the arm, stopping him from leaving the room. Kris blushed deeply at the warmth seeping from Ymir’s hand._

_“Y-yes?”_

_Ymir seemed to notice Kris embarrassment and quickly withdrew his hand with a blush of his own. He lifted his hand to rub the side of his neck. “Look, don’t tell anyone that you’re doing my homework.”_

_Kris blinked. “O-of course! It’ll be just between us.”_

_Ymir’s frown disappeared and the crease between his brows melted away. He exhaled in relief. “Great, thanks.”_

_“But um… if I may ask, why?”_

_At that Ymir became nervous again. “My mom… she… she’ll ground me until I graduate if she finds out.”_

_Kris’s eyes widened. “Okay, I totally understand! I won’t tell a soul. But, um, if… if someone asks why I’m leaving school with you?”_

_Suddenly Ymir’s face darkened. A broad smirk spread out on his face and he lifted a hand to grab Kris by the chin. He then leaned in close, so close that his breath ghosted over Kris’s lips._

_“Tell them you’re my love-slave.”_

_Kris went absolutely red and, sputtering, he stumbled back until the door stopped him. “B-but… you… I mean…”_

_Ymir started to laugh loudly, clutching at his stomach. He keeled over and pressed his face to his mattress, slapping the surface in his amusement._

_“Oh god the look on your face.” He finally uncovered his face and then wiped a tear from his eye. “I swear, if you keep being so goddamn adorable I might just ask you to marry me.”_

_Kris didn’t appreciate the teasing, because his face felt too hot, but his heart did do a good few skips at Ymir’s words._

Sasha blinked. And then he blinked again. “Pardon?”

Kris waved his hand. “Just kidding, we’re studying together.”

Sasha continued to blink, a strange sound escaping his throat. He couldn’t stop imagining Kris leashed like a dog while Ymir ordered him to do… scandalous things. This time he was the one to blush.

“Ha… haha…” He forced a laugh to cover his embarrassment and rubbed the back of his neck.

Kris felt slightly bad for shocking Sasha the way he had, but he suddenly understood why Ymir was so fond of teasing him. It was amusing to watch another’s reactions.

They continued to walk into school, recovering from embarrassment and falling back into easy conversation. Along the way Ymir popped up from out of nowhere and walked right by, seemingly oblivious to the blonde’s existence.

Was Ymir ignoring him?

Kris felt his heart drop, but he decided to ask Ymir about it before coming to any conclusions. It was possible that Ymir really just hadn’t noticed him. That seemed more believable, and even though they were still merely acquaintances, Kris was sure that absentmindedness was a part of his character.

Kris shrugged his sudden sadness off and continued to chat with Sasha as they entered class and found their seats.

XxX

During first break Kris sat with Eren’s group. He was chewing on a sandwich while Sasha and Mikasa argued over who got to eat Mikasa’s last morsel of food. It was amusing to watch, but it seemed that Eren and Annie were so used to their antics that they were barely paying any attention to it.

Eventually Sasha’s yelling and crying got to Annie so he stood, grabbed the piece of food and then shoved it into his own mouth.

“Shut the hell up,” Annie snarled at him. He then plopped back down next to Mikasa.

Mikasa blinked in surprise, and then he smirked in amusement and put an arm around Annie to give him a strong hug.

“You learn from the best,” the black-haired boy said.

Annie blushed lightly and then even more so when Mikasa stole a quick kiss.

Kris smiled at their affection and the rest of them ignored Sasha’s wailing.

“Mikasa, if I may ask, how did you and Annie end up dating?”

Annie crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, determined not to answer in case anyone expected him to. He was sad when Mikasa withdrew his arm.

“It’s a long story…”

Kris shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

Eren chuckled. It seemed he had finished angrily eating his food and was ready to join the conversation. “It’s a really funny story too,” he added.

“Eren, don’t.” Annie warned.

“But how else will we explain it to him?”

Mikasa sighed reluctantly. “There’s no other way, Annie.”

“We don’t have to tell him,” Annie said.

“I don’t mind if you don’t want to tell me.”

“No Kris,” Eren suddenly yelled, “You are now part of the family, so we will keep no secrets from you!”

Annie sighed at Eren’s melodrama. “Fine,” he acquiesced.

Mikasa merely shrugged, and it seemed that Eren was the one who was going to tell the tale.

“We all met in kindergarten. I was a real turd then and I could never defend myself even though I had a big mouth. Mikasa would always fight the bullies away or pull me out of fights.

“Annie had started at our school during our last year there, and Mikasa immediately disliked him. At first this rumour started that Annie liked me, but it just turned out that he thought I was an idiot. But, Mikasa got mad and they ended up having this stupid fight.

“Years later Mikasa continued to think that Annie had this thing for me and they absolutely hated each other. But actually Annie had grown a crush on Mikasa from the beginning and he was mad that Mikasa never seemed to realize it.

“So after a lot of years of petty fighting, I finally got them together in a room and I wouldn’t let them out until they confessed to each other. They did, and they’ve been dating ever since.”

Kris looked to Annie and Mikasa and he noticed that both of them tried their best not to appear affected, but they seemed to be blushing slightly. It was cute.

“That’s a sweet story. And yeah, it is kinda funny.”

“How about you Kris? Ever dated anyone?” Eren asked.

“He has at thing for Ymirrrr,” Sasha cooed right into Kris’s ear. The group visibly startled, and then everyone grinned naughtily.

“Oh?” Mikasa said.

“Interesting,” Annie commented.

“No way!” Eren yelled. “Is he okay with that?”

Kris suddenly regretted teasing Sasha the way he had, because even though he had been joking then, his sudden crush on Ymir was real. That fact was obvious with the intense blush on his face.

“G-guys please, don’t say anything.” Kris pleaded. “I don’t want him to avoid me if he finds out.”

Sasha gasped. “So it was true! You-”

Kris slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes pleading for him not to ever finish that sentence. Sasha somehow understood and lamely nodded his head.

“Guys,” Eren suddenly said in a whisper. His eyes shone with a sparkling determination and everyone except Kris seemed to understand what it meant. The group sighed.

“Eren, no,” Mikasa warned.

“Eren yes,” Eren replied.

Meanwhile, sitting alone underneath a tree, Ymir was about to take a bite of his lunch but was interrupted by a violent and sudden sneeze. His squinted afterwards and rubbed at his nose.

“What the fuck?”

XxX

Kris was nervous when he entered his last class of the day, biology. Ymir was already seated, head resting on his crossed arms. He seemed to be asleep, but when Kris sat down next to him the brunette lifted his head and sent Kris a nod.

“Hey,” Ymir said.

Kris’s heart did a summersault in his chest and his stomach fluttered like wild butterflies. Immeasurable relief washed over him and he very nearly dove at Ymir to hug him in happiness.

Ymir had spoken to him first! He had actually greeted him! Ymir must have been too distracted that morning to notice anyone, Kris was sure of that now.

“Hi Ymir! How has your day been so far?”

Ymir blinked in surprise at the happy tone and the excited smile. He wondered why Kris was suddenly so happy, but he merely shrugged it off.

“Fine,” he responded lamely.

“How did you sleep last night?”

“Unconsciously.”

“Ha, Ymir you sure do like being a smarty-pants, don’t you?”

“Did you seriously just say ‘smarty-pants’?”

“Well… yeah…”

Ymir snorted in laughter. “Holy shit.” He couldn’t utter more and continued to laugh against his arms, shoulders shaking.

Kris was blushing, but more than that he was happy to have said something that made the brunette laugh, even if it was at him. “I, um, I like your laugh.” Kris admitted quietly when Ymir recovered.

Ymir sobered immediately and sent a surprised look to the blushing blonde. His own heart skipped a beat or two, and then he grinned and reached out to poke Kris’s cheek.

“Yeah well I like how you light up like a Christmas tree when you blush.”

Kris’s blush now crawled to the tips of his ears. “Y-Ymir!”

Ymir laughed outright and swung an arm over Kris’s shoulders. “Oh god you are too adorable for words. Marry me Kris, we can elope or something.”

Kris bowed his head to allow his hair to cover his face in order to hide his blush. He was learning to both love and hate Ymir’s cruel method of teasing. Did Ymir honestly feel that way, or was it completely just to make Kris squirm?

Mr Zoe finally came to class then and Ymir withdrew to straighten in his seat. His earlier nap was done and he settled in to listen. Kris couldn’t concentrate for all he tried, since all he could think about was the warmth of Ymir’s arm over his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a kudos & comment.


	5. Chapter 5

Thursday afternoon Kris was sitting in Ymir’s room, head bowed as he concentrated on the stack of homework presented to him. It was his fourth day with the brunette, the fourth day in his new school, and he was still happy. Despite double the homework, Kris was still ecstatic to have a solid reason to spend all of his time with Ymir. The brunette tended to disappear during break at school, so Kris had taken to rather sitting with Eren and his group if he wasn’t able to find Ymir soon enough.

Currently Kris was alone, since Ymir had disappeared downstairs a good few minutes before. If the blonde boy strained his ears then he would hear playful yelling from the kitchen, but he was too occupied with the biology homework to do so. It was about human evolution, and they had been given a lot of extra activities to complete to make sure that they understood the work before they all started exams, which was actually not that far off.

Many more minutes went by, the only sound being the pen scratching along the paper of Ymir’s book. After minutes more the door finally swung open and Ymir walked in, a tray balanced on his arms and two cups clenched in his hands. He kicked the door shut behind him and dropped the snacks beside Kris on the table.

“My mom told me to bring food,” he explained. “So take a break already.” He could see the frustration on Kris’s face and rolled his eyes because of it.

Kris sighed and rubbed a hand over his cheek. “Thanks,” he said. He dropped the pen with relief and took one of the cups. It was filled with coke and he enjoyed the gassy goodness as it slid down his parched throat.

“What has you so frustrated anyway?” Ymir asked. He had settled down on the floor on his usual spot, and was taking large gulps as he stared at Kris.

“Oh, um, we have to find information on the different fossils, like their names, skeleton counts, who found them and where. Our textbooks don’t have all of the information.”

Ymir nodded slowly. “Google it then.”

Kris sighed down into his cup. He hated using the internet to answer school work. To him, he should either know the answer, or the textbook should have it. But theirs really didn’t, so this time he would have no choice. “Thank you for the snacks, by the way.”

Ymir shrugged. “Thank my mom, not me.” He crawled over to the table and grabbed a bowl of chips. He waved his hand to Kris, indicating that conversation was over, and pulled a book from his bookcase. It looked like a brand new volume of a manga series, and Kris was surprised at the amount of care Ymir used when he paged through it.

The blonde sighed lightly again and then turned around to finish the homework. With his phone at hand and a snack here and there, Kris managed to get most of the activities done. Close to finishing, Kris reached his limit and let his head drop on the table. He groaned.

“I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Ymir looked up in annoyance and glared at the back of Kris’s head. “You owe me. You have no choice.”

“I know,” Kris groaned. “But I have to do this all over again when I get home. It’s so much work.”

Ymir didn’t seem to care. “Hey, you agreed.” He turned to look down at the manga again, forgetting Kris’s exhaustion. He had long since finished the snacks, but still had some coke left and lazily sipped on that.

Kris turned around in the seat to watch him. It was the first time he had really seen Ymir read anything. So far when he’d come over, Ymir had been busy playing that zombie game. He had finished it the day before, though. His expression was nice, Kris thought. The concentration he used for reading was different to when he gamed, somehow. Kris very much enjoyed the look of focus in Ymir’s brown eyes. Eventually those eyes turned to meet his, and Kris felt his heart jump into his throat.

Ymir sighed and shut the book. He slipped it carefully back into his bookcase and stood. “I’m going to take a shower,” he said. He grabbed a towel from his cupboard and then slammed the bathroom door behind him. Seconds later the sound of water filtered through the door, and Kris blushed. Images filled his imagination, of Ymir standing naked underneath the shower, water cascading down his muscled form. He wondered if Ymir had freckles on other parts of his body.

To clear his mind before he got too carried away, Kris turned quickly and finished the last of the homework. It was enough to distract him, and by the time he sat back and sighed, rubbing his sore shoulder, Ymir had finished in the shower and Kris’s mind had cleared of dirty thoughts—until he turned around.

Ymir stood in the bathroom doorway, watching Kris with a lifted brow. He had a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, and water still slipped down his bare chest. He had freckles splashed across his shoulders and arms, and some even on his torso, too. It was almost as if Ymir enjoyed the sudden flustered look he was getting from Kris, since he grinned rakishly and then ran a hand slowly through his short, wet hair. He gave Kris a smouldering look, and then dropped his towel.

“Sure is warm in my room,” he commented saucily.

Kris sputtered and his face burnt bright and red. Ymir’s nakedness burnt into his memory and as embarrassed as he was, he could not look away. Thankfully Ymir had turned his back to him, hiding his manhood, but now his backside was on full display and Kris felt a bead of sweat trickle down his temple.

 _Oh my god, freckles,_ he thought. He swallowed and then blushed again while Ymir dressed. There was a sudden uncomfortable tightness in his pants and Kris cursed the fact that such a sudden situation had aroused him so much.

“Done with my homework?” Ymir asked. He turned, still bare-chested. He had a pair of grey pants on, and busied himself with tying the laces on his shoes.

“Y-yeah,” Kris said, swallowing.

“Sweet.” Ymir finished with his shoes and pulled a long sleeved, cotton shirt over his head. Now dressed, he fumbled around for the keys for his bike and then pulled Kris out of his room, since Kris was still too flustered to look Ymir in the face and hadn’t been able to get up himself.

Ymir grabbed Kris’s bag on the way, shoved it into his arms and then released his hand when they left through the front door.

Kris held onto Ymir as he was driven home, and his hands shook badly. He could not stop thinking of Ymir’s naked form, and he worried desperately that somehow Ymir would feel his excitement. He tried to think of things to calm himself down, but it just wasn’t working. This had never happened to him before, and some part of him was slightly suspicious that Ymir knew.

It was in the way Ymir winked and grinned when he dropped Kris off before speeding off again. Kris’s heart sank down to his knees, and another part of his anatomy refused to follow.

XxX

The next morning was Friday, the end to Kris’s first week at his new school. He had recovered from his earlier embarrassment from yesterday. Even though the images had not left him, Kris had learnt to control himself against them. Part of him was nervous of seeing Ymir again, but the other part yearned for it.

Kris walked through the school gates and hummed happily to himself. Everyone around him was just as cheerful, since it was Friday and the first day of the weekend. Kris could hear Sasha yelling somewhere in the distance, and wondered if the others were at school too. He wanted to quickly find Ymir, though, but the brunette often came to school late. So he merely walked calmly into the school building, not expecting the anxiety that would suddenly grip him.

Ahead of him, Berik and Reiner walked side-by-side. Due to Ymir’s influence, Kris had completely forgotten about the boys that had tried to humiliate him. But now they were back, and though they still looked injured, Kris didn’t think that they were too injured to try anything with him again.

Fear gripped him, and Kris’s chest tightened up like it always had. It was a feeling he had been used to, but now it felt foreign. Had Ymir really made him feel normal in just a few days? Where was Ymir? Kris desperately needed him.

Reiner and Berik hadn’t noticed him yet, which he was grateful for. But it seemed that others had noticed them, since someone walked up to the duo and purposefully bumped into Berik, sending him into the wall and causing his books to all scatter on the floor. Reiner glared at the boy, who only grinned snidely at them before joining his friends, who gave him a pat on the back.

“Come on,” Reiner said, hand outstretched towards his friend.

Berik knocked the hand away. “I don’t need your help,” he hissed. He hurried to collect his books, muttering swear words under his breath.

The boy that had knocked him gave Kris a comforting squeeze on the shoulder as he passed by. “We have your back, Kris,” he said. Kris didn’t recognize him, but he was grateful for the support even though they were strangers.

“Thank you,” Kris said, smiling. He turned back to his former bullies and frowned. Did he really think that was okay? Sure, Berik and Reiner had been awful to him, but what was the point of falling down to their level?

So the blonde boy sighed, gulped in a large lungful of air and then made his way to Berik still on the floor. He picked up a lone book that Berik hadn’t noticed, and straightened just as Berik did. The boy noticed him, and his eyes narrowed to slits.

“Here,” Kris held it out, hand shaking. But he managed to smile.

Berik swiped the book from his hand and threw it into his bag. He offered no words and simply stalked off. Reiner, however, took a menacing step towards Kris.

“Think you can pity us now, huh, lady-boy?” he hissed. He noticed the boys from earlier heading his way, and decided that messing with Kris wasn’t worth his time. He snorted once, and then stalked off after Berik.

Kris swallowed and released a shaky breath. Honestly, what had he expected? At least he could feel good with himself that he had tried to help.

Now craving to see Ymir more than anything, Kris hurried to class. His protectors from earlier followed him, just to make sure that he was safe, and then disappeared when Kris sent them a grateful smile. Once the blonde boy stepped into class, his world settled when he noticed Ymir was there, though fast asleep. He went over to him anyway, smiling happily. Not even the event from yesterday entered his mind.

“Ymir,” Kris said, shaking the boy’s shoulder. “Wake up.”

Ymir grumbled lightly and then lifted his head. He blinked up at Kris, brows furrowed deeply. He frowned too, and then he sighed and glared as he straightened to stretch his arms. “What do you want?” he asked.

“I just wanted to say hi,” Kris answered. A light blush followed, and Kris quickly looked down to his feet.

“Jesus, have you never seen dick before?” Ymir asked, unimpressed, one eyebrow cocked high.

“What?!” Kris exclaimed. He pressed his hands to his cheeks that were flaming red. “I… um… uh…”

Ymir laughed. “You haven’t, have you? Besides your own?” He grinned naughtily and swept his eyes over Kris’s uniform clad body, eyes coming to rest at his crotch. “From what I felt yesterday, you’re pretty gifted too.”

Kris regretted having woken Ymir up. Without a word he went over to his seat, face so red that he could barely hear anything other than the thumping of his heart and Ymir’s laughter behind him.

Eren was in his seat, luckily, and so Kris had to sit behind him. It seemed the green-eyed boy refused to let him sit next to his tormentors. Kris, besides his embarrassment, felt absolute gratefulness, enough to almost tear up.

“Hey Kris!” Eren exclaimed, grinning widely. His grin faded when he noticed Kris’s expression. “Oi, what’s wrong?”

Kris shook his head. “Nothing bad, Eren.” He wiped a hand over his sweaty forehead. “But at this rate I might just die from embarrassment.”

XxX

After school ended, Kris decided to skip going home and follow Ymir. The brunette boy often liked to disappear before Kris could tag along, but this once, when they left class, Ymir walked slowly and patiently until Kris jogged to his side. The side glance Kris received made the blonde’s heart race. He swallowed and managed a shaky, though happy smile.

“Hey Ymir!” he exclaimed happily. “Class was great, huh?”

“Not really,” Ymir grumbled. He rolled his eyes and shifted his bag a little higher over his shoulder, slung over with one hand.

“Where are you headed? Home?”

“Nah.”

Kris waited, wondering if Ymir would be forthcoming, but the tall boy didn’t say anything. He remained silent, eyes trained lazily ahead. School was already far behind them and Kris had no idea where they were walking to. Somewhere in his mind he remembered to let his aunt know where he was, before she called the police in panic.

“So what’s your deal?” Ymir suddenly spoke. He stopped mid stride and let his bag slip down to hang at his side.

Kris looked up from his phone and blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I mean,” Ymir gestured with his hand between them, brows furrowing. “Why do you hang out with me?”

“Am I a bother, Ymir?” Kris asked sadly. He felt his lip tremble, but it stopped quickly at the displeased frown that drew Ymir’s lips downwards.

“That’s not what I mean. Haven’t you gotten the hint yet?”

“Hint to what?”

Ymir released a short bark of a laugh. He covered his face with his hand, then he shook his head and stepped close. “You really don’t know what kind of guy I am?”

Kris thought carefully for a moment. Ymir’s proximity made that difficult, though. He could smell Ymir’s cologne. Could feel the heat from his lean body. Kris felt the urge to lean forward and be engulfed by it, but he merely sucked in a shuddering breath and then released it slowly, as Ymir watched it all. He didn’t get where the conversation was going.

“Well, you’re brave for one thing,” Kris started. Ymir snorted and rolled his eyes, but he didn’t move away. “And you’re definitely on the tall side. I’d say you’re aggressive and lazy, but you have a really big heart.” Ymir opened his mouth to argue but Kris quickly continued. “And just because you don’t want people to know that you care doesn’t mean that you don’t. Sure, maybe you really don’t care most of the time, but when you came to help me, you did care.”

The corner of Ymir’s mouth twitched. “You done?” he asked softly. His brown eyes, usually so dull, were alight now, with a fire so bright that if Kris reached out, they would singe his fingertips.

“Y-yeah,” he managed to say. His tongue suddenly felt heavy. His mouth was dry. Why was Ymir looking at him like that?

“You’re full of shit,” Ymir finally told him. “I’m none of that heroic crap. Everything I do is just for my own benefit.”

“That’s not true. You stood up for me!”

Finally Ymir did straighten, but he lifted a hand and clamped it down on Kris’s shoulder. “Wrong,” he said. “I stopped those idiots from hurting you because one, you’re weak and easy to use, and two, you’re really cute.”

Kris felt his heart stutter. Was that a… blush? Was Ymir actually blushing? It was so faint, but it was there, highlighting Ymir’s freckles on his high cheekbones.

“I thought, wow, let me save this guy and maybe he’d think I’m cool and give me some favours,” Ymir continued. He tried to smirk, but it looked hollow.

“What are you saying?”

“You really don’t want to be hanging out with me, kid.”

“You want to get rid of me?”

“Yes.”

Kris felt the word as if it was a blow to his heart. The hurt must have shown on his face, because Ymir suddenly looked regretful. “Really?” Kris asked softly, sorrowfully.

Ymir sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. “Look, I’m just—you don’t even get it. I like—I mean. Okay, why the hell not.”

Kris was about to ask what he was talking about, but Ymir suddenly leaned down, one strong hand resting underneath his jaw to cup it firmly, and then the brunette’s lips met his own and Kris stiffened. The kiss was warmer than expected—and Kris had a few, since he had thought about kissing Ymir a few times—and softer, as well. But Ymir definitely was more on the aggressive side, and the grip on Kris’s jaw was beginning to hurt. When Ymir pulled away, Kris had to quickly grab onto his firm arm to stop his own legs from failing him.

“Okay,” Kris uttered softly, exhaling. “That just happened.”

Ymir chuckled. “Was bound to happen,” he said. “Like I said, you’re cute.”

“So you’re into me?”

“And that doesn’t creep you out?”

Now it was Kris’s turn to roll his eyes, and he did it so well that Ymir was overcome with an odd sense of pride. “Ymir,” Kris said sternly. “Exactly why would I be creeped out? I’ve been picked on for this exact reason.”

Ymir turned and started walking again, hands stuffed into his pockets. He released a sigh. “Damnit, it didn’t work,” he muttered softly to himself.

“What didn’t work?” Kris asked, hurrying after him. “And answer me!”

“You’re annoying, you know that?” Ymir grumbled. Kris would have been hurt, but the soft smile playing at Ymir’s lips told the boy that his tall companion wasn’t trying to be mean.

“I know,” Kris told him with a grin. “But you like that, don’t you?”

Ymir scoffed. “Don’t get cocky, Kris.”

“Hey, you’re the one that came onto me.”

“I’d prefer to come in you, not on.”

Kris stopped dead in his tracks and went red to the tips of his ears, so much that Ymir almost didn’t laugh out of fear that the poor boy would faint. But he couldn’t help it, and he convulsed violently, bent over with his hands clutching his stomach, laughing and sputtering until there was nothing left. Kris waited patiently, blushing and terribly embarrassed.

“That was mean,” Kris told him.

“Suck it up, buttercup. Dirty gay jokes are my forte.”

“At least make your sexual innuendos a little… sexier.”

“Duly noted.”

“Where are we going, by the way?”

Ymir combed his hair back again and released a short chuckle. “Chinese restaurant. I’m hungry.”

Kris rolled his eyes—Ymir could be so, _Ymir_ sometimes. “Of course.”

They fell silent then, walking side by side. After the embarrassment and shock left him, Kris was left with a few confusing feelings. Firstly, Ymir had definitely implied that he was romantically—or perhaps just sexually—interested. How Kris knew that this wasn’t a joke was the kiss—it had been real. Ymir surely didn’t go around kissing random guys as a joke. Who even did that?

Kris felt a flutter in his stomach, and without a doubt his irritating, quick crush deepened into something dangerous. When they reached the restaurant, Ymir gave him a long side glance. Before they stepped inside, Ymir reached out and gently touched Kris on the cheek.

“You okay?” he asked, actually concerned.

Kris smiled. “Yeah, just conflicted.”

“About what?”

Kris grinned naughtily then, despite his fluttering emotions and the burning in his heart. He swept past Ymir, into the establishment and towards an empty table. Ymir followed, moody and impatient. He wanted to know badly, Kris knew. And he didn’t want to wait. He glared for a few minutes without rest until finally Kris gave in. He grinned even though he was sick with nerves all of a sudden, and then leaned into Ymir, hands pressed to his chest, to lean up and whisper into his ear.

“You, Ymir.”

Ymir blushed for real that time. When they sat down, he nervously rubbed the back of his neck and completely missed the question the waiter sent his way. Kris had to order for him, and the blonde stared across the table with an amused, though cautious smile.

“Maybe I went too far earlier,” Ymir eventually choked out.

Kris shrugged. “I think you’re cute too,” he admitted softly.

Ymir regained his cool quickly and released a laugh. “Damn right I am. Wait. Cute as in sexy or cute as in adorable?”

Kris pretended to really consider it, but when Ymir began to look upset, he laughed and shook his head. “Depends,” he answered. “Both.”

“Depends on what? How can I be both?”

“It depends on your expression.”

Ymir rolled his eyes. “I regret saving your dumb ass.”

Kris happily kicked his feet underneath the table and decided that a swift topic change was in order. “So my aunt totally wants to meet you, and I’d really like to introduce you to her.”

Ymir blinked, confused, but then he smiled and went with the conversation. After eating the pair walked back towards the school ground, where Ymir’s bike sat lonely in the parking lot. Ymir climbed on carefully, pushed the bike out of the parking spot and then grabbed for his helmet, but paused before he shoved it on. “What are you waiting for?” he asked, holding out his helmet for Kris to take.

“I can ride with you?”

“How else will you get home?”

Kris only hesitated a moment, wanting to argue that Ymir needed a helmet too, but he caved in quickly and took the offered helmet and eagerly slipped it on. He waited for Ymir to kick the bike to life, and then he climbed on behind the brunette and wrapped his arms around the brunette’s waist. His heart skipped a hard beat, and the warmth from Ymir seeped into him.

“Hold on tight,” Ymir warned him before he lifted his foot and accelerated out of the school grounds.

Kris did as he was told. His lips began to tingle and he pulled them into a smile. Tightening his hold only slightly, Kris enjoyed the closeness and went over Ymir’s words from earlier. He was overcome with the feeling that even though this was knew, he felt like he’d never let go. When they stopped at a red light, Ymir’s large hand suddenly engulfed his own and gave it a squeeze, and Kris felt his heart swell and warm all at once. And they then were off again, soaring down the road, wind wiping against them.

Kris had never so felt at peace, even with the chaos around him. And he had never felt so comfortable with a stranger in his arms, as he quite was with Ymir right then. When Ymir stopped by Kris’s flat, the blonde struggled to let go.

Watching Ymir leave, Kris felt his heart climb with elation. He went to bed with a wide smile on his face, and the next day, when he met Ymir at school, that smile would still be there, where it would remain for the rest of their lives.

Sometimes, good things do come out of bad situations. Kris didn’t regret a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I really hope that you enjoyed the story, and if you did, don't forget to kudos and comment.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a kudos & comment.


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